The Fountain Redux
by Jay Navi
Summary: Gon and Killua embark on a journey to find the Fountain of Youth. A redux of my first story, "The Fountain", this takes place directly after the Greed Island Arc. Rated "T" for minor shota themes, violence and swearing.
1. Introduction

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the Redux of my first ever story, "**The Fountain**". Some people out there may be asking, "Why the Redux? Why not just sontinue the story where you left off?" Well, you see, a couple years ago, my computer crashed. All it did was restart and I couldn't use it. The eventual outcome of this was that the hard drive needed to be replaced. Because I had saved all my work on "**The Fountain**" on that hard drive, it was lost. Having just finished the original anime series' Greed Island Final OVA, and with no english dub to be found anywhere, I lost the inspiration to continue.

However, throughout the years, there has been continued support for my story. That has made me want to get back into writing it, but I just didn't have any inspiration for it. Now, with the 2011 anime series airing weekly, I have found new inspiration and also new ideas. Thus, I want to redux my original story into something better.

I want to thank everybody that has read "**The Fountain**" and everybody that has written reviews for it. I also hope that you will enjoy "**The Fountain Redux**" as you have enjoyed "**The Fountain**". Thanks once again, and in advance.

~Jay


	2. Old Friends and New Enemies

The Fountain Redux

Chapter 1: Old Friends and New Enemies

"Are you coming with us, Bisky?" Gon asked the girl.

"No, I don't like guys with kids." Bisky replied.

Even though she looked to be around our age, she was actually really old. She used Nen to keep herself looking young, because she doesn't like how she originally looked. She was our Nen teacher while we were in Greed Island. She liked to be called "Bisky", but her real name was "Biscuit Krueger".

"Gon, let's do this." I said.

Gon nodded his approval and said "Yeah. Let's go meet him."

"Ging." I said.

"My dad." Gon said.

"Good luck, you two." Bisky said.

We thanked her for everything she had done for us. Gon held the card he took out of Greed Island. It was a card we used very often in the game, a card that would take us to anybody we met in the game. And now, it was time to use it to meet the first person Gon had met.

"Accompany On." Gon said, holding the card up into the air, "Nigg!"

In a matter of seconds, Gon and I were engulfed in a light and it felt like we were flying through the air. I looked over at Gon, who had a huge smile on his face. Just seeing him smile made me smile, though I also noticed he seemed a bit worried. I wanted to reach out and grab his hand to reassure him, but before I could, he looked at me. He saw me smiling and it made him smile even more and his worry seemed to disappear.

We finally landed in the clearing of a forest. There was a lake a few feet in front of us and a man, sitting beside a tree, fishing in the lake. Was this the man we had been searching for? Was this Gon's dad? Was this Ging? Neither of us had seen Ging before, so it was possible that this was that man.

The man by the tree looked in out direction. He must've noticed we were there. It wasn't until he got up until I saw his face. He was a man in his mid-twenties to early-thirties, I'd guess. He had black eyes that were surprised to see us.

"Gon?" The man asked cautiously.

"Kite?" Gon asked in return.

"Gon, I can't believe how much you've grown since I last saw you." Kite said, "What are you doing here?"

"Well, we were trying to get to Ging." Gon said.

"To Ging?" Kite asked.

Gon told him about our adventures in Greed Island. How he had collected all the "specified slot cards" required to win the game. He told Kite that after he had collected the cards, there was a quiz and that he had answered the most questions correct. He told of how he had met with List and Dwun and that he was able to take three "specified slot cards" from the game. He told how we had taken the "Accompany" card from the game and used it to get to the one called "Nigg".

"I see…" Kite said, pausing to gather his thoughts, "Ging told me he was using a fake name in the game and told me to do the same."

Gon looked frustrated by this fact. He said that he'd been tricked. Kite just laughed and said he was sorry. Then he noticed me.

"Who's your friend, Gon?" Kite asked, pointing to me.

Gon replaced his frustrated look with an embarrassed one. "Oh, sorry. Kite, this is my bo-" He stopped himself before he finished and I looked at him, puzzled. After a slight pause, he continued saying, "This is my best friend. Killua Zoldyck."

I was still a bit confused, but I managed a "Nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Killua." Kite said, "I've heard of the Zoldycks before, but I never thought I'd get to meet one. How did you two meet?"

Gon told Kite all about how we had met at the Hunter Exam the previous year and everything that happened during that time. He said that he and our other friends, Leorio and Kurapika, went to my house on top of Kukuroo Mountain to "rescue me". I didn't know that I needed to be "rescued", but I certainly didn't bring it up.

By the time that Gon had finished telling Kite of our adventures, the sun had been down for a few hours. Kite seemed like he was very interested in what Gon was saying and it almost looked like he was trying to relive it in his head. After Gon had retold our Greed Island adventures, everyone was silent and we all just stared at the fire Kite had started. It was several minutes before Kite spoke, breaking the silence.

"Well, Gon," he said, "I'm sorry that you weren't able to find Ging after that, but I'll tell you what. Why don't you two rest here tonight and in the morning, I'll take you to the nearest town. You can get yourselves some plane tickets and continue your search."

"But where will we start?" Gon asked.

"Ah, good question." Kite said, "I hadn't really thought of that."

I almost fell off my log stool. Was this guy serious? Greed Island was our best bet at finding Ging and he says we should just go on with no information?! I was beginning to think I couldn't trust this guy. I don't know why, but he seemed like he was stalling for Ging. Maybe it was because Kite trained under Ging. At least, that's what Gon said Kite had told him.

"Well," Kite began, "now that I think about it more…" He trailed off to keep our attention. "Hm… yes, that could work…"

I was beginning to fell a bit frustrated by him trailing off. "What?" I said anxiously, "What could work?"

"I'll tell you in the morning." Kite said, "For now, you two need to sleep. I'll keep the fire going and take watch. Dawn shouldn't be too far away and I don't really sleep that often, so I should be good."

Kite had a sleeping bag that we could use. He said that he didn't use it that often and he barely slept when he wasn't at a hotel. It was big enough for two kids but I felt a little worried about sharing a sleeping bag with Gon, especially with what he almost introduced me as. I climbed in shortly after Gon, anyways.

Strangely enough, after I had climbed in to the sleeping bag, I felt my worry disappear. It was a bit tight, because the bag was normally designed for only one person, but being that close to Gon just felt natural. Before I got to sleep, I felt Gon put his arm around my body. My back was to him so he must've been facing the same way. I thought that was a good thing because my face felt like it was burning and I was glad Gon couldn't see it.

He snuggled in closer to me and said, "Mmm. Good night, Killua."

"G-goodnight, Gon." I managed before falling asleep myself.

Morning came and I opened my eyes to see Gon's hair and feel my arms wrapped around his body. As much as I enjoyed the feeling I had, embarrassment came over me and I immediately let go and got out of the sleeping bag. This woke Gon up. He rubbed his eyes and asked me what was wrong.

"Uh, n-nothing's wrong, Gon. "I said, "I was just excited to get this new day started, that's all."

I figured Gon was still tired and couldn't tell that I was lying because he said, "Oh. Okay then." and got out of the sleeping bag himself.

After we rolled up the sleeping bag, we looked around for Kite. I noticed that the fire had died down to almost nothing. All that was in the fire pit were red and white ashes. Gon had checked by the lake where we first met him, but he wasn't there, either. I was about to check the woods when I heard a startling roar followed by rustling trees from where I was going to look.

I told Gon to stay by the fire pit and ran off into the woods to see what was happening. As I was running, the roaring and rustling became louder and more frequent. I stopped before I came to a clearing and saw Kite fighting something that looked like a cross between an animal and a human. I wanted to go in and help him but before I could make a move, I felt a hand on my shoulder.

Several situations were running through my head. I could turn around and stab whatever it was that had a hold of me before it could do me harm. I could grab the arm and flip whatever it was over my should and finish it off. Other situations like these were going through my head and all of them ended in whatever it was getting stabbed by me. I was about to get up and turn around to stab it when it crouched down beside me.

"I don't think we should get involved in this, Killua." Gon whispered to me.

"Gon!" I yelled at him in a whisper. "What's the big idea sneaking up on my like that!? Don't you know I could have killed you!?"

Gon just smiled at me and my anger went away in an instant. Gon seemed to have that effect on me. Whenever he smiled, it was like you just took a bath in the deepest, most serene and calm water ever. I may not have been angry anymore, but I was still curious.

"Gon," I whispered to him, "when you were going to introduce me to Kite, you were about to say something. What was it?"

"I-I don't know what you mean, Killua." He looked away and I could tell he was embarrassed. I knew that he didn't want to talk about it just yet so I decided not to push the matter.

"Okay," I said, "So, why shouldn't we get involved in this fight? I mean, Kite's your friend, right? Doesn't it make sense to help him?"

"It does," Gon said, "but I believe in Kite's strength. I don't know what he's fighting, but he's probably fought dozens like it before."

I figured Gon was probably right so I just watched. It looked like Kite was winning against the thing but I could tell he wasn't in great shape, as well. The creature was starting to get the upper hand and knocked Kite against a tree on the other side of the clearing. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Gon about ready to jump in. I held him back.

"You idiot," I said while holding him around his waist, "Don't you remember what you said? 'I believe in Kite's strength.'" I did a mocking voice, "'He's probably fought dozens like it before. We should just watch and not get involved.' If you go in now, you'll betray that trust you had in his strength. He may not know it, but you will and I know you'll feel bad about it for the rest of your life!"

This was enough to make him calm down. I hit him on the head and said, "idiot." Then we went back to watching Kite fight this new enemy. While I was trying to stop Gon from rushing out there head first and without a plan like the headstrong idiot he is, Kite had pulled out a scythe from somewhere and more creatures had arrived. I figured they were friends of the first creature, but they all looked different. I couldn't get a good look at them so I don't know what they were supposed to be.

"You don't stand a chance." The first creature said. I didn't even know it could talk. "There's more than a dozen of us and only one of you." The creature let out a hissing chuckle. "And after we're through with you, we'll take care of your two friends hiding over in the bushes."

For a brief instant, I saw the creature look over in our direction. How did it know we were here? Did one of its friends tell it? If that was the case, then how did we not notice whichever one it was that was spying on us? I felt a chill run down my spine, but I stayed as low to the ground as possible and told Gon to do the same, practically ripping his shirt as I pulled on it.

Even though his face was almost fully covered, I saw Kite smile. "You can have them," Kite said. I immediately wanted to get up and shout at him, but Gon held me down. "That is, _if_ you can kill me." Kite got into a ready stance with his scythe and said, "Now, come and get me."

The creatures charged at Kite all at once and in the blink of an eye, they were all dead. Kite had swung his scythe so fast that the normal eye could not have seen it. His scythe went away and he walked over to us. As soon as he reached the edge of the clearing, Gon and I stood up and Kite smiled at us like nothing happened.

"I hope you boys slept well." He said, "Sorry I wasn't there when you woke up, I was just looking for some breakfast. Unfortunately, there isn't anything edible in these woods." He looked over at the bodies of the creatures on the ground by the other end. "So, why don't we go into town now?"

The closest town to us was about twenty miles away from the south end of the woods. At first sight, you would think it was abandoned because the buildings all looked broken and some were even in ruins. However, there were people living there and they hardly seemed to notice that their buildings were in ruins. To them, it seemed like everyday was business as usual.

Kite said that he'd been here a few times before and he took us to one of the buildings that didn't look like it was in complete ruins. He said this place was a restaurant and that they had good food. I was ready to think that anything was good food because I hadn't eaten in what seemed days, though it was only a few hours. I was going to open the door to go into the restaurant when Kite held me back.

"Gon, why don't you go on in and get us a table?" Kite asked.

Gon didn't question Kite and went right on in. Kite waited until the door was closed before he told me to follow him. I was on edge the whole time we were walking and it felt like the slightest bit of a nudge could've set me off on Kite. We were down an alley not far from the restaurant when Kite had stopped.

"Killua, I couldn't help but notice you two while you slept." He said. I thought it was obvious, seeing as how he offered to keep watch for anything.

"What about it?" I asked.

"Well, during my travels," he began, "I've heard stories of a certain fountain. A fountain that grant eternal youth to the one that drinks out of it."

I've heard stories like that from my grandpa before, too, but he always just said they were stories. If a fountain like that really did exist, then it would've been a great tourist attraction. There would also be at least one person that had a drink from the fountain and it would've been in newspapers or something like that. I decided to dismiss Kite.

"They're just stories." I told him.

"No, Killua, they're not stories." He said. I was slightly interested, but I didn't show it. "I've heard of somebody that searched for the fountain and came back with the knowledge of the universe that it gives."

"Pssh. Yeah, right." I said as I walked back to restaurant.

"Remember my words, Killua," Kite said before walking after me, "You might find something that will change your mind and then you will wish you had listened to what I said."

"Right." I said sarcastically, "I'll do that."

A short while later, Kite and I were sitting at the table Gon had gotten. It was in a secluded VIP section where the walls were decorated with fine cloth engraved with gold. The table was also gold and the silverware was pure silver, as were the plates on the table. I wondered how this restaurant had this section if their town was such a dump.

"Wow, Gon," I said, " How did you manage to get this table?"

"Well…" Gon trailed off.

"You used the eyes, didn't you?" It wasn't really a question because I knew he had done it.

"Yeah." Gon said with a big smirk on his face.

I hit him on the head. "Idiot." I said, "I told you not to use the eyes anymore."

Kite was obviously confused about what we were talking about, but he didn't bother asking. Gon sometimes uses "the eyes" to get what he wants. That's what I've called his big, wide puppy-dog eyes. If he uses the eyes, you have no choice but to obey his will.

"Ow…" Gon said while rubbing his head, "Why'd you have to do it so hard? And why can't I use them?" I was at a loss for words and Gon just grinned. He leaned in close to me and said, "I bet you don't want me to use the eyes because you think I'd use them on you, right?"

"N-no!" I said, "Of course not! It's just… just…"

"Just what, Killua?" He was about a hand's width away from my face and I was blushing hard.

Fortunately, Kite was there to interrupt. He cleared his throat and said, "Why don't we just sit down and eat?"

That was the best thing I'd heard in a long time, it seemed. We sat down at the table with Gon sitting next to me and Kite sitting across from us. After we had ordered our food, Kite told us a bit about the town. He said that it was under constant attack from a military force.

"That's why the most of the buildings are in ruins?" I asked.

"Yes." He said, "I was actually hired by this town's mayor to investigate the source of the invading army. So far, I haven't found any clues, except for one."

"The creatures in the forest!" Gon practically yelled.

I hit him on the head. "Keep your voice down!" I scolded.

"Yes, Gon," Kite continued as if Gon hadn't shouted his observation, "Those creatures were an attempt at creating soldiers with unimaginable statistics, compared to regular human beings. They tried to sneak up on me while you were sleeping and I couldn't get any information from them."

"So why are you telling us?" I asked.

"Good question." Kite said, "Frankly, I'm not too sure myself. Maybe it's because I want your help. Maybe it's because I don't want to get you involved. I can't really say."

"We're already invo-" Gon started before I put my hand over his mouth.

"Is that why you brought us here, to this restaurant?" I probed, "So you could tell us not to get involved? Aren't you at least going to give us time to decide if we want to help you?"

Kite laughed to himself. Before I could ask him what was funny, our food came. I removed my hand from Gon's mouth so we could eat. He didn't say anything about what I did. I knew he wanted to help Kite, but I wasn't too sure about it.

The conversation as we were eating was next to non-existent. Nobody wanted to say anything because everybody was still thinking about what was just said. I was getting all sorts of mixed feelings about Kite now. I'm not sure why I couldn't get a good read of him. He was a complete mystery to me. Maybe, just maybe, that was the reason why I was so hostile towards him.


	3. Super Soldier Scramble

Chapter 2: Super Soldier Scramble

After our meal, Kite paid and we went outside. Kite said Gon and I should talk it over with each other and he'd meet us back at the restaurant in a few hours to hear our answer. He went to do some errands in town, leaving us alone. I asked one of the townspeople if the had a library that had computers with internet access.

"Yes, we do," the townsperson said, "It's just past the General Store on the right."

I thanked him and started walking toward the library. Gon followed and asked why I wanted the internet. I told him it was for research. He didn't question what research I was doing because he was thinking the same thing I was.

When we got to the library, we went to a computer and accessed the Hunter website using Gon's Hunter's license. Just like when we searched for information about Greed Island, we clicked on the bartender. In the search bar, we typed in "Super Soldier". One result came back. We clicked on it.

"T-two hundred million Jenny?!" I exclaimed so loud that I got a 'shush' from everyone else in the library. "That way more than information on Greed Island. Do you have enough money, Gon?"

"No," Gon said, "You stole most of what I had to buy yourself some sweets."

"That's not my fault," I defended, "You shouldn't have been so trusting with your money."

"But you're my best friend," Gon accused, "If I can't trust you with my money, then who can I trust?"

"That's not the point here, Gon!" I hit him on the head.

"Ow!" He cried loud enough to get a 'shush' from everybody else in the library.

"The point is," I continued as if nothing had happened, "you don't have enough money and I don't have enough money. Which means…"

I trailed off. I really did not want to think about what it meant. I dreaded what it meant. It mean the last thing I ever wanted to do.

"Which means I'll have to call my family and ask for some money." I said depressingly, "Ugh."

I took out my phone and dialled my house number. My only chance of getting money was if my grandpa picked up the phone. Grandpa Zeno always let me have what I wanted. Sometimes I thought he did it just to piss Milluki off, because he thinks I'm spoiled. The phone rang and on the other end was Grandpa Zeno. Success!

"Grandpa Zeno!" I said, "It's me, Killua. Listen, I was wondering if I could borrow some money."

On the other end, Grandpa Zeno was telling me about the value of a Jenny. And in his day, yadda, yadda, yadda. It was all stuff I'd heard before a million times. He always asked me if I understood what he just said and if I'd take it to heart. Of course, I always told him I would, but I never did.

"So, how much money do you want, Killua?" Grandpa Zeno finally asked.

"Oh, not much," I lied, "Just two hundred million Jenny."

"Hmm…" Grandpa Zeno always said that when he was deep in thought.

I crossed my fingers hoping Grandpa Zeno would let me have some. Gon saw I had my fingers crossed and crossed his own. If we couldn't get the money for this information, I wasn't sure what we would do. Finally, Grandpa Zeno spoke.

"Alright, Killua," he said, "You can have two-" he stopped himself and I wondered what was going on. "No, Killua," my heart sank, "You can have five hundred million Jenny."

My heart instantly did back flips. However, I wondered why Grandpa Zeno stopped and suddenly added three hundred more Jenny on. Was there something or someone that made him change his mind? I decided to ask.

"Grandpa Zeno," I began, "why did you just add three hundred more Jenny onto what I asked for?"

"I'm sure you can figure that out, Killua," Grandpa Zeno said, "You're a smart boy."

A thought instantly came to my mind. "Did Porky hear you talking to me?"

"Mmhm." I could tell Grandpa Zeno was trying hard not to laugh, but I couldn't help but let out a chuckle.

"Thank you, Grandpa Zeno," I said, "You're the best. Oh, and I need that money right away, too."

"It's already in your account, Killua." Grandpa Zeno said, "Goodbye."

He hung up. I did the same and put my phone away. I told Gon to click "Okay" and it asked us to transfer the money. I swiped my bank card and the bartender started talking.

"The 'Super Soldier' program was first thought to have existed long before the Hunter Association came into existence. It was once believed that organizations, such as the now-defunct Natsuki's Assault-Zinger Invasion task force, developed a serum that would increase one's own body strength tenfold. A united World Government at the time sent in a group of men that would eventually form the Hunter's Association to retrieve the serum and destroy everything that the NAZI task force had worked on. However, these are just rumours.

"The Hunter's Association was formed after that mission to analyze the Super Soldier serum. They started experimenting with it and eventually found that most of the results were disastrous. It had a fatal effect on both animals and humans. However, these are just rumours.

"After trying to develop their own Super Soldier serum, after many years of failed experiments, they discovered that they could see and use the auras that surrounded them. The 'Nen' that they discovered would eventually lead to perfecting the Super Soldier serum. They shared the knowledge with the World Government, who thought they could control the serum. However, these are just rumours.

"One of the original 'Hunters', as the Government called them, decided to make a deal with the Government: for giving them the Super Soldier serum, he would get a place in the World Government. However, he betrayed the Government by killing the members and forming his own Reigning Monarchy. He used the Super Soldier serum on animals and they became hybrids, almost chimera-like, of humans and animals. However, these are just rumours.

"The Hunters fought against the traitor and his hybrids. The war lasted several years and the Hunters had recruited more people to their cause, teaching the recruits about Nen and how to use it. Eventually, the Hunters had won and banished the traitor to places unknown. However, these are just rumours.

"The Hunters reformed the Government, but instead of a united body governing everything, the had formed individual bodies governing areas. The Hunters set up the Hunter Exams, looking for more recruits in case the traitor ever returned. The Super Soldier serum was all used up in the war and no trace of it was ever found. However, these are just rumours.

"Recently, reports have been coming in from 'Places Beyond' that there are 'New and Improved' Super Soldiers. Starting with the province of 'Naga' on the 'Kittana' continent, just outside of the 'Known World' boundaries, there have been sightings of a Young Man walking in front of these Super Soldiers. Strange aircrafts have also been spotted flying above the Mitene Union. However, these are just rumours."

The bartender stopped talking and we waited quietly for anything else he might have to say. After a few minutes, I took the ear bud out of my ear, as it was obvious that was all the information the bartender had. I honestly didn't know what to make of the information, but I decided to trust it because it was on the Hunter's Website. I looked over to Gon and I saw he was in the same thought process as I was.

"Killua," he asked, "what did it mean when it said they were just rumours? Does that mean it isn't true?"

"No," I explained, "What the means is nothing about what we just heard was classified as 'official.' It means that the Hunter's Association doesn't want the information about this to be released to the public. What we need to do now is find out what an 'Attack-Zinger' is and then we can help Kite, even if he doesn't want our help."

A 'ping' sound came from the computer. I looked at the screen and saw a little "1" in a red circle in the top left corner. I wondered what it was, so I told Gon to click on it. A message came up.

"'Dear Hunter,'" Gon read, "'The information you have accessed is Class-SS classified. Your license will be tracked to the computer you used to access this website and all information on it will be deleted. The money you used will not be refunded and the card used will also be traced and deleted. We thank you for using our website and-'"

"Shit." I cut Gon off, "Gon, log out. Log out!"

"I'm trying, Killua, but it won't let me!"

Gon clicked furiously on the "X" at the top right of the screen. It wasn't closing out. I had to think quickly or else all of our information would be deleted. Then I had an idea.

"Gon, move!"

I pushed him back without waiting. I heard the chair fall to the ground and Gon let out a small "ow" as he fell with it. I began clicking furiously on the "X" while I searched the tower for the power cord. I found it and followed it to where the other end was taped to an outlet.

"Damn." I cursed.

There was only a few seconds left before we were traced and all of our information was gone. I couldn't afford to lose that extra three hundred million Jenny Grandpa Zeno gave me and Gon's Hunter's License is still useful to us. I only had one option left: I had to use my Nen. I let some electricity flow through my body and concentrated it in one finger. I put the finger up to the tower and it short circuited. The power to the computer was off, but I wasn't sure if it had stopped the trace on us. I turned to Gon, who was just getting up off the ground.

"Gon, we need to check to see if the trace stopped." I said, "Quick, try and log back in to the Hunter's website from another computer."

Gon stood up and went to the computer right beside the one I had just short circuited. When he got to the website, he tried to log in with his Hunter's License. I held my breath in anticipation. Success! Gon was able to log in which meant that the trace had stopped before it found the information. I sighed in relief.

No sooner had I done that, that I heard somebody clear their throat behind me. I turned around to see the head librarian glaring down at us. She was one of those librarians you would see in a movie; with gray-ish hair tied up in a style that has not been in for decades and glasses with rims so thick, you couldn't see her face clearly tied around her head with a chain of gold. I told Gon to log out and we tried to walk away. She grabbed us by our shirt collars and led us to the front doors.

I tried to fight her off, but her grip was tight for her age. Granted, I didn't know how old she actually was, but I guessed she was really old. She was also strong enough to lift us off our feet. When she opened the front doors of the library, she threw us out. She threw me out first and I landed on my front, face down on the ground. As I was getting up, Gon landed on his butt and on my back. That sent my face smashing into the ground again.

"I don't want to see you two in my library again," the librarian said, "Troublemakers."

_Well, this is just great_, I thought, _We get the information we want and then get kicked out before we could learn more because of the stupid Hunter__'__s Association._ I was in a bad mood the whole time I was laying there.

I lifted my head up a little and said, "Gon, get off."

"Oh," Gon said as if he'd just realized that he'd been sitting on top of me, "Sorry, Killua."

Gon got up and I got up immediately afterwards. I brushed myself off and thought about what we were gonna do next. We found out what the creatures in the woods were and how they were made, but we still didn't know what an "Air-Zinger" was. I could only think of two things we could do to find out. The first one, I didn't really want to do, because it involved calling home again and the second wasn't all that plausible to pull off.

I told Gon to follow me and we walked to an alley that was a few blocks away from the library. I took off my backpack and opened it. I rummaged around in it until I found what I was looking for. I pulled out a kit that I always carried with me, in case I needed to change my appearance.

"Gon," I began, "take off your clothes."

Gon blushed, "Wh-what?"

Seeing him blush made me blush and I looked away. I hit him on the head and said, "Idiot! We're changing clothes. Take off your backpack and give me some of your clean clothes. We're about the same height, so your clothes should fit me and my clothes should fit you."

Gon did what I told him to do. I gave him some of my clothes as well. Before we left the alley, though, I opened the kit up and took out some hair gel. I took a handful of it and rubbed it into Gon's hair, messing it up. He pushed my hand away and told me to stop.

"Look, Gon," I told him, "If I don't mess up your hair and give myself a different hairstyle, that librarian lady will recognize us and throw us out again. Do you want to be thrown again?"

"I don't know," Gon said, "I kind of liked being on top of you."

He grinned. I blushed and hit him on the head. "Idiot!" I said while looking away, "Now hold still."

I held his hands down while I rubbed the gel in some more. Then I put some gel in my hair, spiking it up in the front and on the sides. I closed the gel and took out a marker. I told Gon to close his eyes and I drew a circle around his left eye, which I filled in afterwards.

"Alright, now you do one around my right eye." I told Gon.

I closed my eyes and felt the cold tip of the marker on my face. I felt as it traced my eye, leaving a cold trail where it had been. I felt the marker going from side to side, filling in the circle. I only hoped this would work.

When we returned to the library, I told Gon to keep his fingers crossed. He crossed them and I slapped his hands. I told him I didn't mean it literally and that it was just a figure of speech. I was pretty sure the he knew what I had meant all along and was just toying with me. He tended to do that. A lot.

We walked into the library and passed the head librarian, who look up and eyed us suspiciously. I was relieved when she went back to what she was doing. So far, the plan seemed to be working. We walked up to one of the librarians that was putting books away.

"Excuse me," I said which nearly made the librarian drop her book, "Could you tell me where I can find a book?"

"Uh, y-yes." She said, "I can. What kind of book did you want?"

"A book that has something about Air-Zingers." Gon blurted out.

"A-Air-Zingers?" The librarian asked, "What are those?"

"We don't know," I said matter-of-factly, "That's why we need the book."

"Oh." The librarian said, "W-wait one moment, please."

The librarian went back behind the desk. It took her a couple minutes, though, because she kept twisting her ankles. My guess was she wasn't used to wearing high heels. When she was behind the desk, she looked something up on the computer and then walked back over to us.

"I found a b-book that has Air-Zingers." She said, handing me a slip of paper, "Y-you'll find it in the 'Automotives and Aircrafts' section. Just right down there."

She pointed in the direction of the section we wanted. We thanked her and went to look for that book. Checking the slip of paper the librarian gave me, we were able to find the book without any problems. I looked in the Table of Contents of the book about all kinds of planes and found the page for the Air-Zingers.

"'Air-Zingers are a type of plane that were commonly used before the turn of the century,'" I read, "'They had many uses including the transporting of early vehicles and weapons. They were also used to transport people, but not for luxury purposes like many of today's planes. These types of planes were mostly used by militaries looking for a quick first strike.

"'They were named Air-Zingers because of their quick speeds. The fastest an Air-Zinger was recorded going was at three times the mach speed of sound. This type of plane is no longer manufactured, but some still manage to be flown every year or so. Mostly for special events like air shows and-'" I stopped reading, "It just goes on about what the Air-Zingers are used for today, but it doesn't say anything about any military using it today."

I put the book back where I had found it and we walked out of the library. We walked back to the alley where we had put on our "disguises" and I took a water bottle and a cloth out of my backpack. I told Gon to close his eyes again while I wet the cloth and rubbed Gon's left eye with it. The marker was washable, so it came off easy. I then washed my face to get the marker off.

"Okay, Gon," I said, "Take off your shirt, put your hands against the wall and put your head down. I'm gonna wash the gel out of your hair."

Gon did as I had wanted him to and for a moment I hesitated. I couldn't explain why I had hesitated because it didn't make sense. I began to pour the cold water from the bottle onto Gon's head with one hand and rubbed his hair with the other so the gel would come out. And I was blushing the whole time. It was weird.

As Gon put a clean shirt back on, I reached into my backpack again and pulled out a towel, which I gave to him and told him to dry his hair. I took off my the shirt I borrowed from him as he was changing his pants. I decided the best thing to do was put my head against the wall and look at the ground while I rubbed the gel out of my hair. After I had dried my hair and changed my pants, we walked back to the restaurant.

We found ourselves waiting outside of the restaurant for Kite, who hadn't returned from his "errands". While we were waiting, we decided to talk amongst ourselves about what we would do. Obviously, we were going to help Kite bring peace to this town, but what if Kite didn't want our help? What would we do then?

"We'd just have to explain to him that we had to help." Gon stated.

"Well, obviously," I countered, "But don't you think if he didn't want us to help, he'd send us away?"

"Then we'd come back." Gon countered my counter.

I gave up. It was useless to argue with Gon. Once he had his mind made up, it was impossible to change it. _But, perhaps, that__'__s what I like about him, _I thought, almost unconsciously, _Wait. What? Dammit, Killua, this is Gon we__'__re talking about here! A boy! I can__'__t think about boys like that!_

A few moments later, we saw Kite heading back in our direction. He was carrying grocery bags, probably supplies for his "camp" in the woods. I mean, you can only live off of fish and wild berries for so long, right? And who knew how long Kite was going to be in those woods?

As soon as he saw us, he knew his answer, but he decided to ask his question anyway. "Well, boys?"

"We're in." I said.


	4. Natsuki

Chapter 3: Natsuki

"Well, boys?" Kite asked with a look on his face that told me he already knew our answer.

"We're in." I said.

"I figured as much," Kite said, "I saw the resolve on your faces the moment I told you what I was doing. Luckily, I bought enough food for three people. Come on, let's go back to camp."

We walked out of town and into the forest again. Gon and I were constantly keeping an eye out for any more "Super Soldiers" on either side. If any showed up, we knew we'd have to fight them. Fortunately, we didn't see a single thing, except maybe a few forest animals, and we made it back to Kite's camp.

It was already dark by the time we got to camp, so Kite made a fire. While he was doing that, I opened up some cans of food and Gon decided to go fishing. It wasn't long before he caught three fish that we could cook over the fire. Once the fire was made, Kite asked us about our day.

Gon started out with an embarrassing "I got to be on top of Killua!"

I nearly choked on my own saliva before I hit him on the head. "Idiot, don't say it like that!"

I explained to Kite what really happened. How we had gone to the library to look up some information and almost got our information deleted by the Hunter's Association. I told him how I had used my Nen, I gave a little demonstration by holding my hands up and allowing electricity to flow between them, to short circuit the computer and that we were thrown out of the library because of it. I complained about how the head librarian had called us "Troublemakers".

"That's how I got to be on top!" Gon chimed in.

I hit him on the head again and told him, "Stop saying that!"

Kite just laughed. Gon laughed immediately after Kite had started. I just sat there with my arms crossed and more than a little red. Fortunately, the fire hid my redness from them.

After we ate, Kite gave us some "bad news", as he called it. He said he'd forgotten to pick up a couple extra sleeping bags so we'd have to share his bag again. I didn't find that news all that bad, since it actually felt kind of nice to be wrapped up with Gon. He once again offered to take watch for the night, but Gon was naturally concerned about his sleep.

"Don't worry," Kite said, "If I fall asleep, it'll only be for a short time to rest my eyes. And plus, I have the fire to keep me warm. Now, you just go to sleep and we can discuss what to do in the morning."

Gon was contempt with Kite's response and climbed into the sleeping bag. I got in after Gon like I did last night, with my back to him. It was still a little tight, but still comfortable. Gon once again put his arm around me, while snuggling in close to me, but this time it was around my waist and he rested his hand on the front of my pants.

My face turned the shade of the reddest apple you have ever seen in your life and then some. For a moment my mind was completely blank. I didn't know what I would do; what I _could_ do. Then I did the only thing that came to my mind: I shrugged his arm up around my side.

"Cut it out," I whispered to him in an annoyed tone.

"Cut what out?" He asked insincerely. I could tell that he had done that on purpose because he let out a small giggle.

"You know what I mean," I told him.

I was just thankful that he didn't see how red I was. If he had seen that, then he would've just put his hand back there. I hated how he always toyed with me like that, like I was his own personal court jester whose only purpose in life was to make him laugh. I let out a sigh.

"Just, don't do it again," I said.

"Okay, Killua," his voice sounded sincere, but there was still a slight playfulness in it, "Good night."

He whispered in my ear and I felt his warm breath cover the whole side of my face. Then he snuggled back in. I waited until I heard him breath deeply, until I knew he was asleep, before I rolled over on my other side. I kissed Gon on the forehead and snuggled in close to him.

"Good night, Gon."

I woke up in the morning to the smell of fire and smoke. It didn't smell like a campfire, though. It was more like a forest fire. I shot up like a rocket, disturbing Gon from his sleep.

"Mm," Gon said while rubbing his eyes, "What's wrong, Killua?"

"Fire." I said softly.

"What?" Gon asked.

"Fire!" I yelled as I got out of the sleeping bag.

I looked around for Kite, but I didn't see him. I wondered where he went, but I had more pressing matters to attend to first. Gon was still rubbing his eyes as I nearly dragged him out of the sleeping bag. He was about to close his eyes again when I hit him on the head.

"Ow!" He said. He got up and yelled at me, "What'd you do that for, Killua?! That hurt!"

I spread my arms and said, "Look around, there's a fire! We need to get out of here!"

Gon's eyes filled with horror as he saw the huge flames surrounding the forest. He wanted to go look for Kite, but I told him I already had and didn't see him anywhere. I told him that I thought Kite had abandoned us there, but Gon didn't believe me. He said that Kite wouldn't do that.

"And how would you know?" I asked him, "You've known him for what, an hour and two days? How do you know what he's really like?"

"I just know, Killua" he shouted back at me, "He told me he trained under Ging and I know that Ging would never abandon anybody!"

"He abandoned _you_, didn't he?" I yelled without thinking.

As soon as I said that, I knew it was out of line. Gon's father, Ging, had left him in the care of his aunt in order to be a Hunter. Gon had set out on a journey to find Ging. And I had just insulted him.

"Gon," I said realizing my mistake, "I'm sorry."

"Goodbye, Killua," he said with tears in his eyes, "I'm going to find Kite. You can leave if you want to, but I'm staying."

He turned around and started running off into the blazing forest. I ran in the opposite direction, leaving all the supplies there. The whole time I was running, I kept thinking about Gon and wondered if he'd be alright without me there. I quickly told myself that it was Gon and he'd find a way to survive without me.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice shadows running beside me. Or, if I did notice them, I was too busy thinking about Gon to care. I should have been paying attention when one of the shadows had come straight out in front of me, but I didn't. I ran into a body that knocked me to the ground.

"Hey, jackass!" I yelled at whoever it was, "Watch where you're going! What's the big idea cutting in front of me like that anyway?"

I looked up to see that from the waist up, the person that had cut in front of me was a mean-looking German Shepherd with the arms of a human. Closing in around me were all kinds of other dogs: Pitbulls, Bulldogs, even St. Bernards. I was getting ready to either fight them or run away, when a man in his early twenties came out of the forest and yelled a command in a language I didn't understand. I figured this man was the leader.

He spoke to the dogs and immediately, they sat on the ground with their tongues sticking out. He gave them each a weird shaped treat. I had seen plenty of dog treats when Mike, the dog that guards my family's estate, was given some. Ones that weren't trespassers, that is.

However, these treats looked like something else, something I can't describe. I'd never seen treats like those before. After he had given his dogs their treats, he took a bite of one himself. I was a little bit disgusted by that, but I didn't show it because he looked at me and said something I didn't understand.

"Excuse me?" I said, trying to seem polite.

The truth was, I was pissed at this guy. If these dogs were what I thought they were, then this guy had to be their leader. And if he was their leader, then he was probably the cause of this fire. And if he was the cause of this fire, then he was the reason Gon had left me. The more I thought about this guy and what he could have potentially done, the more I was getting pissed off at him.

"Oh, sorry about zat," he said in a thick accent, "I forgot zat jyoo can't speak my langvage. Ah, how rhude of me. Please forgive me."

I didn't know what to say. I was still pissed at him, but I kept my cool and said, "You're forgiven?"

"Ah," he seemed almost too happy about what I had just said, "zank you zank you!"

He grabbed my hands and lifted me up. He shook them as hard as he could as he spun around. I stayed where my feet were planted, but I had no choice but to spin as well. Out of the corner of my eyes, I could see his dogs sitting down where they were before. I saw the looks they had in their eyes. Hungry looks. Like I was going to be their dinner.

When he stopped spinning, he let go of me and said, "Oh! Zat's right, I forgot to introduce mienself. I am Rhodgiero Von Kampa Natsuki ze sirhd. Und who might jyoo be?"

"Killu-" I stopped myself. I couldn't give out my real name to this guy. His name was Natsuki, the name the bartender told Gon and I was behind the Super Soldier program. I decided to use a different name, but it probably wasn't the best name I could've come up with. "Killua. Killua…Freecss." I hated myself for using Gon's last name.

"Killua Freecss?" Natsuki repeated, "Zat is a vunderful name. I have heard of Freecss before und zey are said to be big powerful! Tell me, Killua Freecss, vwat are you doing in zis burning vorest? Jyoo should know not to go into fires."

"I uh…" I tried to think of something quick, "I was just coming to help the animals get to a safe place."

"Zo far into ze vorest?" He was probing me and was probably onto my lies.

"I got lost," I lied, "It's hard to see with all this fire everywhere."

Natsuki was about to say something else when a voice came over the roar of the fire. It was a small voice at first, barely audible, however, I knew the owner of the voice immediately. The voice grew louder and Natsuki said something to one of his dogs. The dog growled and got up as soon as its master called it. It started to head into the forest, and I knew I had to act.

"Killua!" The voice was clear now, but still a ways away. "Killua~!"

The dog ran to where the voice was coming from and I let my instincts take over. I used my Nen to move at lightning speed to intercept the dog. The dog paused a moment when it saw me and I snapped its neck. We both hit the ground at the same time, however, I landed on my feet and it landed on its arm.

"Killu-" the voice was right behind me this time, "Ah! Killua!"

I turned around to see Gon running at me, with his arms wide open. I tried to stop him with my hands out in front of me, but he ended up tackling me to the ground. He kept apologizing while he rubbed the side of his head against the side of mine. I kept trying to push him off of me.

"Gon," I said, "get off!"

"Ah!" Natsuki was beside the dog that I had just killed. "Mien poor, poor Janke! Killua Freecss, zat waz not a very nice zing to do."

"Killua… Freecss?" Gon asked looking at me.

"I'll explain later," I said, "Now get off!"

I pushed him off of me and he landed on his butt on the ground. I sat up and introduced Gon to Natsuki. I told Natsuki that Gon was my brother and Gon looked at me the same way I had looked at him when he introduced my to Kite. I shot him a look that said 'I'll explain later, now just go along with it.' That seemed to satisfy his curiosity, at least for now.

"Ah-ha!" Natsuki was suddenly over the loss of his dog, though I figured it was because he had a whole army of dogs. "Ze bruzah of Killua Freecss! How I am excited to meet you pleasure!"

He started to shake Gon's hands like he sook mine, except without the spinning. Gon, through a shaky voice said, "Um. Nice to meet you, too, uh…" He trailed off waiting for Natsuki to introduce himself.

"Ach! You're right!" Natsuki had stopped shaking Gon's hands and had put one hand over his forehead, with his palm up, in an over-the-top dramatic reaction. "I should introduce mienself virst! Ach! You'll have to forgive me, for I am unfamiliar wis your customs. Mein name is Rhodgiero Von Kampa Natsuki ze sird und jyoor bruzah und I vere just becoming friends."

At this point, Gon and I were standing. I could tell he noticed the name 'Natsuki'. I pleaded in my head, _Don__'__t say anything, don__'__t say anything, don__'__t say anything._ No such luck.

"Natsuki-" I stepped on Gon's foot and he let out a loud, "OW!" as he jumped up and down holding it.

I feigned concern "Gon, what happened to your foot?"

"Buoyz, buoyz, please," Natsuki said, "Ze treez are coming down und it is getting a bit hot. Let'z find a vay out of zis vorest togezah. After all, you und I are ze zame: lost travellerz."

In the excitement, I had forgotten that the forest was burning. I almost wished I hadn't stepped on Gon's foot so hard now, because he wouldn't be able to run and keep up with us. Almost. The only reason why I didn't, was because I got to carry him on my back. I got to embarrass him by having my hands on his butt to hold him in place while we ran and that gave me the smallest bit of satisfaction.

"Cheater." Gon said bitterly into my ear.

I couldn't help but laugh a little bit. It wasn't often I saw Gon defeated, so this was a moment I just had to take in. For as long as I've known Gon, he'd always loved a challenge and embarrassing me was his best challenge. He always won because I wouldn't go to the lengths he goes to embarrass him. So, stepping on his foot hard enough to stop him from saying something stupid so I could carry him away from a burning forest while touching his butt, could seem like cheating to him.

We made it out of the forest just as the exit we had used was blocked off. Natsuki said something to his dogs in that foreign language and they all went away. I had wondered where he sent them but I didn't ask. I thought it would make me seem too nosey and I didn't want Natsuki to be suspicious of me. Instead, I just said goodbye to him and started to carry Gon off in a direction the dogs didn't go.

"Vait," Natsuki called, "If you are going into ze town, I vould like to go vis you. I am new to zis area und don't really know mien vay arhound, so I need some help."

His smile was empty. I could tell because it was a smile I often wore. I accepted to bring us with him to town and I could feel Gon's eyes on me. I knew he wondered what I was doing. Natsuki thanked us in his usual manner and began to walk ahead of us.

When he was a fair distance ahead of us, at least enough to be sure he couldn't hear us, Gon whispered, "Killua, why are we taking him to town?"

"Because I want to know where he sent his dogs off too. If my hunch is correct, it's probably somewhere near town."

"Then why-"

"Because," I interrupted him, "we have a better chance at finding out what he's planning on doing."

"Oh." Gon said. We walked in silence for a few minutes, when Gon asked, "Why did you say your last name was Freecss?"

My face turned a little red and I looked away. "I don't know," I said, "I didn't want to give my real last name and yours was the first one that came to my mind." I was obviously lying.

Gon let out a little laugh, "I bet it's because you secretly want my last name as your own. Is that it, Killua?"

He whispered my name in my ear and I blushed. "N-no!" I said defensively, "Why would I want that? That's stupid."

Gon laughed again. I decided to change the subject. "So, what about you?" I asked.

"Huh?" Gon responded.

"Did you find Kite?"

Gon didn't answer for a while. I knew the answer was either 'no' or 'yes, but' and I also knew what usually followed the 'but'. I was sort of hoping he didn't find Kite, for his sake. If Gon had found Kite dead, then he probably would've snapped at the first person who pissed him off.

"No." Gon finally said, "The fire got too much for me to handle and I had to turn back. When I got back to the camp, I saw you weren't there and I went looking for you."

The memory of what I had said about Ging just an hour or two ago, came flooding back to me. "Gon," I said, "I'm really sorry about what I said earlier. I… I didn't mean it."

"It's alright, Killua," he rested his head against my shoulder, "I already forgave you for that as soon as I left."

_Typical Gon_, I thought, _even if somebody had cut out your heart, you__'__d forgive them instantly._ I couldn't help but smile at that thought. Then, another though came to me. "You know, Gon," I said, "your foot's probably good enough to walk on now."

"I know," Gon said, "but I just don't feel like walking. I'm comfortable."

I laughed. Gon started to laugh as well. Up ahead, Natsuki was most likely wondering what was so funny. We didn't care, though.

Our laughter was interrupted by a sound overhead. We looked up but didn't see anything. I looked ahead to where Natsuki was, but he didn't seem to notice. The sound came by again and Gon had caught a glimpse of what had made it.

"Killua," he said, "I saw a plane!"

"A plane?" I asked, "No normal plane could move that fast."

Gon nodded, "Yeah. I think it was one of those Air-Zingers we read about yesterday."

"If that's true," I started, "then we're walking right into a trap."

"Killua, put me down." Gon said.

I crouched and Gon put his feet on the ground. I called ahead to Natsuki to tell him we were gonna rest and make sure Gon's foot was alright. He said he'd wait for us a little ways up the path. When he was out of sight, we began our planning.


	5. The NAZI Task Force---?

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=  
A/N: I'm sorry to say that there is a significantly less amount of fluff in this chapter. Awww... On the bright side, there's more action! Yaaaaaaay! Also, a little backstory, but you don't care about that.  
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Chapter 4: The NAZI Task Force…?

"Alright, Gon," I said, "We need a plan if we're going to go into this trap. Any ideas?"

Gon though hard, "We should just fight them head on!"

I hit him on the head and said, "You idiot, there's way more of them than there is us! If we were to fight them head on, we'd lose in a matter of seconds! Any other bright ideas?"

Gon was rubbing his head when he said, "Maybe we could split them up, like what we did with the Bomb Devils."

It wasn't a bad idea, but it still wouldn't work. I told him that we were still outnumbered and we'd have no way of splitting them up efficiently. I also told him it was just going to be us against them. Gon countered that we would be outnumbered either way.

"So, what do you suggest we do, Killua?" Gon asked.

"I think the only thing we can do," I said, "is challenge Natsuki to a fight."

"Challenge him?" Gon asked, "Isn't that the same as taking him head on?"

"No," I explained, "If we challenge him, he'd have to stick to the rules we set. He'd also have to do what we want him to do if he loses."

"Ah." Gon said, beaming with excitement, "Let's go challenge him now!"

He got up and was about to run after Natsuki, when I grabbed his shirt collar. I explained to him that now wasn't the right time to challenge him. He looked a little disappointed by this. I couldn't help but smile.

We walked over a hill and saw that Natsuki was waiting for us. He commented on Gon's foot being better and Gon agreed with a nervous laugh. I told him it wasn't anything too serious. He asked what happened.

"I must've stepped on a sharp rock or something," Gon lied.

"Vwell," Natsuki said, "I'm joost zankvul zat ze bruzah of Killua Freecss is alright. Ve have becoming very good friendz, ja, Killua?"

"Uh," I said, "yeah. Very good friends."

We walked a little more towards town. Gon kept whispering to me about when we jump Natsuki and challenge him. I kept telling him when we got closer to town. When we were just outside of town, we made our move.

"Now!" I yelled.

Natsuki turned around to see us jump him. He was surprised, but still managed to dodge us. So, instead of grabbing him, we pushed him to the ground. I landed on my feet again, but slid a short distance to stop myself and Gon landed on his head, which turned into a roll, before he got to his feet.

"Natsuki," I said, "We're challenging you to a fight."

From seemingly out of nowhere, Natsuki's dogs surrounded us. They didn't move, but were growling and barking. Natsuki ordered them to do something in his language and they immediately stopped growling at us. Natsuki then got to his feet.

"Vwy vould jyoo vwant to challenge me?" He asked, "I have done nozing vrong."

"Don't play innocent, Natsuki!" I accused.

"Yeah," Gon chimed in, "We saw one of your Air-Zingers!"

"So, you know about ze Air-Zingers," Natsuki said. Although, his tone wasn't threatening, it was more sad.

I was thrown off guard a bit by his tone of voice, but managed to say, "Yeah. We read about them. We know it was your family that had started a war with them and that you were called the Natsuki Air-Zinger Invasion task force."

"Vwat jyoo zay is correct," he said, "Howevah, I am not ze mind behind ze Air-Zingers. Ze one zat is behind ze Air-Zinger assault iz a man zat vas vunce a Hunter from zis vorld, vwat jyoo vould call ze 'Known Vorld'. I am from a Province in vwat jyoo call ze 'Outside Vorld'."

I'd heard stories of the "Outside World" from my grandpa, who had heard the stories from his grandpa, who had heard the stories from _his_ grandpa! I naturally thought that Natsuki was lying, but then he showed us some proof, something I had never seen or heard of before. He called it an "Amulet". It was a gold circle with a "blue amber" in the middle and markings along the outside. He said it was given to him by his grandpa.

"Ze amulet," he said, "contains a magical power zat can control ze 'failed' Super Soldiers, like zees dogs."

"What do you mean by 'failed'?" I asked.

"It means zat zey have ze strength und look of a regular Super Soldier, but zey lack ze brain capacity to have clear conscious. Zey turn into mindless beasts who only act on instinct und orders."

"So, you're _not_ the one attacking the town?" Gon asked.

"Ach, no!" Natsuki protested, "I vould nevah do such zings as mien ozah family. Zey had learned ze lesson ze hard vay und zey vould nevah send anybody to vwar again. Howevah, about a month ago, ze Air-Zingers from mien entire province vent missing. Vwe tracked zem over to here und I saw ze man who took zem: It vas ze same man who had vanted zem for his own after ze Hunters had taken zem from us! I remember his description clearly."

"Wait," I said, "That war was over a hundred years ago! How can he still be alive?"

"Ze Fountain." Natsuki said in a mysterious voice, "Ze Fountain zat grants ze vun zat drinks from it Eternal Youth! He drank from it und he is out for revenge on ze Hunter's Association for his banishment!"

I looked at him in a 'You've got to be joking' way. Again with this fountain of youth thing. If it was such a big deal, then why wasn't it more known? Why wasn't every damn person and their mother going to it for their eternal youth? I asked Natsuki these exact questions.

"Ze Fountain is dangerous to get to," he said, "Vun vould have to have great strength in body und mind to get to it. It's also never in ze same place. After somebody drink from it, it magically disappears und reappears in anozah place."

"A disappearing fountain," I said sarcastically, "Now I've heard everything! Next you'll be telling me that Gon will be my boyfriend instead of my best friend!"

Oops. That was a mistake. Not only did I just basically say that Gon wasn't my brother and that my last name wasn't Freecss, I might have also given away a secret I've been trying to figure out for a long time now. I just hoped that they only caught on to the first part.

"You're saying zat you are not Freecss?" Natsuki asked, "Zen, vat are you?"

I let out a sigh, "My name is Killua Zoldyck. I come from a family of assassins."

"Zen, you are here to kill me?" Natsuki asked.

"No," I said, "I'm not an assassin anymore. Not since I met Gon. We're both Hunters."

"Ah-ha!" Natsuki seemed overly excited about this fact, "Zen you vill help me with mien problem!"

He grabbed Gon's hands and started shaking them while spinning. Gon looked as confused as I am and Natsuki kept spinning. Once Gon was sufficiently dizzy, Natsuki grabbed my hand and started shaking them while spinning, like he had done before. However, I was getting dizzy this time.

"Now hold on," I said through a shaky voice, "I never said that!"

He stopped spinning and let go of my hands. I felt somewhat relieved until I felt his arm around my back. He pulled me into a hug and I looked over to see Gon being pulled into the same hug. I thought his brain was about to explode from all the confusion. Mine certainly felt that way.

"Ah~" Natsuki said, "This is happiest day of mien life!"

I pushed him away and said, "Get off of me! Now, tell us what this guy looks like."

"Hmm…" Natsuki thought, "He vas about mien height; he had long, brown hair und pitch black eyes. He also vore a cap on his head und he carried a vwand, zough, I'm not too sure on vwat it vas for."

Gon started to shake his head. "No," he said, "No. No. NO!"

He raised a fist to punch Natsuki, but I got in front of him and held him back. "Gon!" I said, "What are you thinking?"

Gon looked right past me and straight at Natsuki with eyes full of hate. "He lies!" Gon shouted.

"What?" I asked.

"He just described Kite!" Gon yelled, "Kite would never do anything to hurt anybody!"

I hit him on the head. I knew he would just yell at me, but that's what I wanted. I wanted Gon's anger focused on me. If I could direct his attention away from Natsuki, I could reason with him.

"What'd you do that for, Killua?" He yelled.

"Because you're an idiot!" I yelled back.

"I am not an idiot!

"You are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

Natsuki decided to intervene, "Boys, boys-"

"Shut up!" We both yelled at him and he backed off.

"Killua," Gon said, "I know Kite and he would never do anything-"

"To hurt anybody," I finished, "yeah. I've heard it before. But did you ever stop to think that this _wasn__'__t_ Kite?"

Gon looked at me, confused. I knew it. Gon hardly puts any thought into any action he does. The only time he focuses is when he's fighting. He asked me what I meant.

"Look," I explained, "we know that the Super Soldiers were created using Nen, right?" Gon nodded. "So, what I'm saying is that maybe somebody is using Nen to look like Kite."

"Oh." Gon said, understanding. He turned to Natsuki, bowed slightly and said, "I'm sorry."

"Oh, no," Natsuki said, "It iz, how you say, no problem."

We heard another Air-Zinger fly overhead. However, this time, it stayed over us for a few moments. Natsuki's dogs started to growl as we saw the hatch of the plane open. In a matter of minutes, there were objects falling from the plane.

"Ze Super Soldiers," Natsuki said.

Gon and I immediately got into fighting stances. Super Soldiers, creatures that looked like what we had seen the previous day, landed in front of us. There were about twenty of them at first, which didn't really seem that bad when I factored in that Natsuki's dogs would be fighting with us and there were about ten of them. However, about twenty more jumped from the plane and landed behind us.

Another figure jumped from the plane, but this one was different. I saw its arm move and something appeared above it. It descended slowly and as it got closer, I noticed it was different than the others that had jumped from the plane. It wasn't until it touched the ground that I noticed what it really was.

It was a man. However, this man did not look like Kite. This man was about my height, maybe a little taller. He did have long brown hair, pitch black eyes and wore a cap on his head and he also carried a stick that I guessed was for walking, but this was definitely not Kite. This man wore an evil smile underneath his black eyes, that was nothing like Kite's smile.

"Hello, Gon," he said as he looked at Gon, "Killua," he looked at me, "and who do we have here?" He looked at Natsuki, "Oh, if it isn't His Highness, himself, Prince Rodgiero Natsuki. What a pleasure it is to meet you again."

Wait. _Prince_ Natsuki? This guy was a _Prince_? And who was this man that had just landed here? How did he know who Gon and I were? We had never seen this man before.

The man obviously read my thoughts because he said, "Killua, you don't recognize me" The man concentrated for a minute and suddenly grew taller and changed his face. "How about now?" The man now looked and sounded like Kite.

"How…?" I trailed off, not knowing what to say or how to form the words.

The man let out an evil laugh. "I am, as you may have guessed, a Nen user," He said, "More specifically, a Manipulator. I can change my body and voice to anything I have seen and heard before. I took on the form of your friend, Kite, shortly after he had killed my Super Soldiers. It was just pure luck that Kite happened to look like me, when I was younger."

"So how long have you been 'Kite'?" I asked.

After he had transformed into "Kite" and started talking, I stepped in front of Gon because I saw he was about to explode. I had to make sure Gon didn't lose sight of himself in anger, so I had to step in front of him. I also couldn't let this Kite impostor see Gon or else he probably would've ordered his Super Soldiers to do something terrible. I couldn't let that happen.

"Oh, I've been this 'Kite' person for a month, now," he said, "However, finding the real Kite was quite difficult, seeing as how he had killed every member of each scouting party I sent after him. But I finally found him and disposed of him properly. And I was hoping that the forest fire would take care of you two, seeing as how you know my plans, but it just looks like I'll have to do things the hard way."

"I have another question for you," I said, trying to stall to see if Gon would calm down; it wasn't working very well, "What do you mean you 'disposed' of Kite properly? How do you know we know your plans? And what's this 'hard way' you mentioned?" The last question, I already knew the answer to, but I was still trying to stall.

"That was actually three questions, but all right, I'll answer them from the last to the first," the Kite impostor said.

I suddenly felt like hitting him like I hit Gon. Something about how he said 'three questions' just pissed me off. It also seemed like he was belittling me and I hated to be belittled. That pissed me off even more.

"The 'hard way' I mentioned," he began, "involves having my Elite Super Soldiers beat the ever loving crap out of you while you beg for your lives. Like I mentioned before, finding Kite was tough, but I found him last night while you guys were talking at the fire. I couldn't help but listen in to hear what you were talking about. And I heard you say a lot about my plans. And lastly, while you were sleeping, I had my Super Soldiers abduct Kite. I liked his look so much that I just had to take a keepsake from him before I had my Super Soldiers rip off his head."

As he adjusted his hat, which I assume was the 'keepsake' he got from Kite, Gon was focusing all his Nen into his fist. I saw out of the corner of my eye that Gon was raising his hand. I could tell that I couldn't hold him back any longer, after finding out Kite's fate. He pushed by me and ran toward the Kite look-a-like, with his arm raised high in the air.

He jumped at the impostor while shouting "Janken… JAN!"

He landed a direct hit on the Kite impostor's right cheek. Normally, a punch from Gon is enough to bruise you. A punch from Gon, with all his Nen focused into his hand, was enough to break your jaw ten times. This guy, this Kite impostor, took Gon's punch dead on and the only thing he did was just spit out blood.

A split second later, the Kite impostor punched Gon in the stomach. The punch had enough force to make Gon to vomit blood. Gon fell to the ground, landing on his knees, holding his stomach. Then, the Kite guy did a roundhouse kick to Gon's face that sent him flying back closer to where I was standing.

I started to run over to him. "Gon!" I shouted.

"Stay back, Killua!" Gon commanded.

"What?" I asked, "Why?"

"This bastard killed Kite," Gon said, while getting up, "And I'm gonna make him pay!"

"Gon," I began, "don't be ridiculous! You put all your strength into that punch and he just brushed it off like it was nothing!"

"I can put a lot more strength into another punch than I did with that one!" Gon said stubbornly, "This bastard's gonna pay if it's the last thing I do!"

"Gon!" I said while trying to run to him again.

I was cut off by a couple Super Soldiers that I took care of by shocking them with my Nen. Once they were nice and toasty, I was surrounded by five more. The two in front of me, I took care of the same way as the last two and I grabbed the one behind me's neck between my legs and flipped it over so it was in front of me. Unfortunately, this left me vulnerable for an attack from the other two, who started kicking me while I was on my back.

I barely managed to get my hands around their ankles to send electricity into them. I sat up and got onto one knee before I looked around. I saw Natsuki and his dogs fending off some Super Soldiers, I'd guess about two for each dog and one for Natsuki. That makes about 27. I saw Gon punching every Super Soldier that got in his way to the Kite impostor. I counted about ten bodies when he finally reached the Kite impostor.

That left three unaccounted for. I was going to look for them, when I felt a pole around my neck, just under my chin. The pole raised, lifting me with it. The other two started punching me in turn and I tried to kick them each time. Once, they decided to punch me at the same time; one punched my face, while the other punched my stomach.

I was fairly confident that I would kick them the next time they punched me. However, I never got the chance because one of Natsuki's dogs jumped the two that were punching me in one go. It sank its teeth into the closest one's jugular and ripped it out while its hand was choking the other one. As soon as the jugular was ripped out, the dog threw the Super Soldier away so it was only on top of the one it was choking. With its hand still over the Super Soldier's neck, the dog took it other hand, placed it on the Super Soldier's head and snapped its neck.

While I was glad I wasn't being punched anymore, I was still being choked by the pole. I would've kicked the one choking me as soon as the other two were gone, but every time I tried, the Super Soldier just kept pulling on the pole, choking me even more. I was starting to lose consciousness from all the constant choking, when I felt the pole suddenly drop from my neck. I landed on my knees, coughing.

"Killua, are you alright?" The voice belonged to Gon.

"G-Gon?" I coughed, "What happened? Where did the guy that killed Kite go?"

"He got away," Gon said, disappointed, "The plane let down a ladder and he climbed up. I tried to get him, but by the time I took down his Super Soldiers, he was too far up. That's when I saw you."

I looked back and saw the Super Soldier with the pole that was choking me beaten to a bloody pulp. Surprised, I asked, "What the hell did you do?"

Gon laughed, "I just let out some of my anger."

"Sheesh," I said, "Remind me never to get you that angry."

"Do you think he'll be back here, Killua?" Gon asked.

" I doubt it," I said, "He's already killed Kite and he knows that we would leave here as soon as possible."

"Do you think we should tell anybody?" Gon asked.

At first, I wondered who we were gonna tell, but then I remembered Kite had said he was hired by the town. I thought this would've been a good opportunity to get more money, if we told the town's mayor that we had taken care of the threat. However, I wondered if Kite had already been paid. Maybe they only paid him half of the money beforehand and were going to pay him the rest after he stopped the attacks on the town.

"Yeah," I said, "We can tell the mayor that the attacks will stop."

Gon obviously knew my intentions because he said, "Killua, I didn't mean like that!"

We laughed as Natsuki came up to us and said, "Mien friends, I am grateful to you for helping-"

I cut him off, "Don't get the wrong idea, Natsuki. We only fought because we had to. That guy killed one of Gon's friends and we had to avenge him."

After a moment of silence, probably because Natsuki was letting what I had just said sink in, Natsuki said his farewell and told us that if we were ever in his province, Kampa, to look him up. I said we'd think about it. We didn't have any current plans to go to the "Outside World", anyway.

Natsuki left in a different direction than town, which surprised me. When I called to him, he said he had a private plane in a private hangar not that far away. I guess I should've expected it, what with him being a "Prince" and all. Gon and I walked into town.

We hoped the head librarian lady wouldn't recognize us as we walked into the library. After all, we were covered in blood and our clothes were most likely really burnt from being in the forest fire. We got to a computer successfully and went online to buy some plane tickets. Gon used his Hunter's license to get a good deal on them.

I decided to checked my email on a different computer while Gon was looking for plane tickets. I wasn't surprised that I didn't have any new messages because most of the time, it was my family emailing me mission assignments. Because I wasn't an assassin anymore, I stopped receiving these types of messages. I was about to close out of my email when I suddenly got a new one. It was from Leorio. I clicked and read it.

'Dear Gon, Killua and Kurapika, I'm writing this because I'm going to be attending a conference in Yorknew City and I was told I could invite three other people. It will be in one week from the time you read this. Let's all meet up at the Yorknew airport in one week. Sincerely, Leorio.'

I told Gon about what I had just read and he was excited. He quickly changed the destination of the tickets to Yorknew City. He printed out a confirmation notice that said the tickets were reserved, but weren't paid for and had to be picked up within the next twenty-four hours or our tickets would become unreserved again. Gon grabbed the piece of paper and we left the library.


	6. Fortune Telling

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A/N: Shorter chapter to make up for the longer one that was Chapter 4. Also, not so much fluff as previous chapters, but still a little bit. Next chapter, I promise I'll get to bringing elements from "The Fountain" in. So, just bear with me for this chapter.  
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Chapter 5: Fortune Telling

We ran towards the airport to get our tickets, when Gon suddenly stopped. I ran into him and he moved forward a bit. I turned my head to see what he was looking at. It was a building with a sign that had a crystal ball on it.

"C'mon, Gon," I said impatiently, "We need to get moving."

"We have time, Killua," Gon said walking towards the building, "I wanna check this out."

"Fine," I said, "But it better not take too long. These things are nothing but a hoax, anyway."

"A hoax?" Gon asked, not too interested in what I had to say.

"You know," I said, "A scandal, a scam. A quick way to get your money. They don't really have any powers."

"A quick way to get my money," Gon repeated like he was in a daze, "Quicker than your sweet tooth?"

I was going to say something, but this weirdly dressed woman opened the door to her building and motioned for us to come in. She wore a glittering purple dress and had her mouth covered with some cloth. Inside were dozens of charms and potions. I picked up a bottle and started turning it around in my hand.

"That is a love potion," the woman's voice came from right behind me, which startled me and I nearly dropped the bottle. "You put a drop into any liquid and the one who drinks the liquid will fall madly in love with you. Is there somebody you might want to try it on…?"

She looked over her shoulder and I followed her gaze toward Gon. I blushed and set the bottle down. "N-no!" I said, "Of course not. It's nothing but a hoax, anyway."

"You think what I do is a hoax, young man?" She asked with a fake hurt tone in her voice.

"Yes," I said, "I've heard stories about fortune tellers from my dad and grandpa. They said all fortune tellers are nothing but phonies."

I was paraphrasing, of course, but I didn't let her on to that. She put her hand on my shoulder and for a brief instant, it felt like she was searching into my subconscious for something. I shrugged her hand off and backed away, putting my arms up in a ready stance. She just giggled.

"You do not like to be touched, I see," she said, "Come over to my table and see for yourself that I am not a 'phoney'."

Gon and I walked over to the table with a crystal ball on it. The ball itself didn't look all that impressive, just the kind of crystal ball that you'd find in a toy shop, but the table was decorated in a manner that was obviously meant to take away from the ball. There were gold sprinkles scattered around a silver base for the crystal ball on a purple table cloth. She motioned for Gon to sit down in the chair across from her.

"Young man," she said, "I want you to look deep into the crystal ball. So deep that you see your very future."

I let out a mocking "Psh." and the fortune teller lady told me to "shush". I was a little agitated by that, but I didn't do anything else. I saw Gon was concentrating hard on the ball. I was about to say we should leave, when he said he saw something in the ball.

"Yes, young man," the fortune teller said, "Tell me, what do you see?" She was waving her hands over the crystal ball.

"I see Killua," Gon said, I immediately turned my full attention to what Gon said he saw, "He's standing over something. I-I think it's me. He's saying something that I can't hear. Ki-Killua, why did you turn your hand into the claw? Why are you lifting it over me? Ki-Killua? KILLUA!"

I grabbed Gon's arm and immediately ran out of the fortune teller's shop and down the street. Once we were a few blocks away from the shop, I ran into an alley. We leaned up against a wall and slid down to the ground. Gon was shaking.

"Killua," he said, "What… What did I just see?"

"You just saw me murder you in cold blood, Gon." I said.

I knew I couldn't lie to Gon. Not about something like that. That scene that Gon had just seen had plagued my dreams ever since I met him. It was a scene that I never wanted anybody to know about. I never wanted that scene to happen.

"You…" Gon said, "You're not really going to do that, are you, Killua?"

"Of course not!" I said, "You're my best friend, Gon! I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Then… Why did I see that as my future?"

"I don't know, Gon," I said, "but I'm going to find out." I got up and started walking out of the alley.

"I'll go with you!" Gon said.

"No, you stay here," I said, "I don't know what's going to happen and I'd prefer it if you weren't around. I don't want you getting hurt."

Gon smiled. I was a bit confused and I blushed. I wanted to know what he was smiling about. Did I say something funny or something?

"W-what?" I asked.

"It's nothing," Gon said as he shook his head, "It's just that… no. It's nothing."

I was still confused. I started to walk away when I heard something that made me stop in my tacks. Gon had said something that really made me blush. Maybe he thought that I couldn't hear it if he whispered it, maybe he only wanted me to hear it.

"I love you, Killua." Is what he said.

I looked down and said, "I love you, too, Gon."

I ran off before I could see his reaction. It wasn't long before I stood in front of the building again. I was determined to get some answers and nothing was going to stop me from getting them. I walked into the shop and saw the fortune teller lady sitting at her table just like we left it, with the chair that Gon was sitting on, on the ground.

I walked up to the table and slammed my hands down on it, yelling "What the hell was that!?"

"I do not know what you mean," she said.

"Don't play dumb with me, lady," I said, "What the hell did you show Gon?"

"I showed him his future," she said.

"Like hell, you did!" I yelled, "That was something that was locked away deep in my mind. How the hell did you get it into your crystal ball?"

She chuckled. "You must have some guesses as to how I operate," she said, "Right, Killua Zoldyck?"

I froze. I never told her my name and the only thing Gon had said was my first name. She must have done something to me to get my full name, but what? The only thing I remember her doing was…

"When you touched me." I said in realization, "When you put your hand on my shoulder, it felt like you were pulling something out of my subconscious."

"And how do you think I did that?" She was shuffling some cards she had taken out of a chest to her right.

"You used some kind of Nen, didn't you?" I said accusingly.

"Ah," she said, "you got me, you Zoldyck. I suppose I have to tell you my power now." She chuckled. "I am a Specialist, you see? I have the ability to take a person's deepest, darkest secrets-their worst nightmares, if you will-and project them on my crystal ball. However, as you have guessed, it only works if I touch the person."

I was getting nervous. If this lady had the ability to read my mind and bring out my worst nightmares, then what else was she capable of? How do I know all she brought out was my worst nightmare? She might have also seen a way to get at me when I was most vulnerable.

She must've known how I was feeling because she said, "Don't worry, Killua, I am of no threat to you." She looked at a card and placed it face-down on the table. She drew another card and looked at me and said, "And no, I didn't read your mind fully. My power doesn't work that way." She placed the card she was holding face-down on the other end of the table and drew another card. She looked at it for a while before setting it face-down in the middle of the table. "The cards are very favourable to you, today," she said, "Let's take a look, shall we?" She slid all three cards across the table towards me. "Flip a card and we will see what your future holds."

I was a little suspicious. "How do I know you didn't use Nen to choose the cards?"

"My crystal ball may be run by my Nen," she said, "but I can assure you that my cards aren't affected by my Nen at all. If you wish, you may use Gyo to see that."

I took her up on that offer. I focused my Nen into my eyes and looked at the cards. I didn't see any signs of Nen coming from the cards. She was telling the truth.

I still didn't believe that cards could tell my future, but I reached for the one on my left first and flipped it over. It had a picture of two people holding hands standing underneath a man with wings. It looked like they were standing in a roof-less bedroom.

"_The Lovers_," she said, "This card says that you will soon find love in someone you trust. It could also mean that you have already found love. So, Killua, which one is it?"

I thought of the conversation I had with Gon just moments before and felt my face turn a little read. I reached for the next card, the one in the middle. This one had a picture of a man standing in a gold wagon being pulled by two horses. One of the horses was black and the other was white.

"_The Chariot_," she said, "This card represents a battle. A battle that could be inside yourself, or a bloody war. Which one, though, I cannot say."

I thought about the scene she had showed Gon and wondered if that was what it was about. I reached for the final card and flipped it over. I took in a gasp of breath as I saw what the card was. The picture was a stone circle with water in it and another circle, just above the other one, with water spraying out and into the bottom one.

"_The Fountain_," she said, "This card says that you will go on a quest to find a mystic fountain, long forgotten by time. However, it does not say that you find the fountain. It is up to you to decide if you find it or not."

'The Fountain' was not something I had wanted to see in those cards. I had tried the best that I could to forget about what Kite had said about the fountain of youth. I'd almost succeeded when Natsuki brought it up again. And now this card. It was like this fountain was mocking me. And I hated being mocked about as much as I hated being belittled.

"The order of how you flipped the cards, determines their order," the fortune teller said, "You will find love that will lead to your battle on your way to find the mystic fountain. Now do you believe in fortune telling, Killua?"

"I'll believe," I said, "when I see everything before my eyes."

"Then leave," she said, "and find the truth, find your belief, find your destiny. Everything was on the house today. Even the little bottle of Love Potion you have in your pocket."

I reached into my pocket and found something small and round. I pulled it out to find it was the bottle I was looking at earlier. I hadn't put it in my pocket, I put it back on the shelf. I decided to question this.

"How did this bottle get in my pocket?" I asked, "I remember putting it on the shelf where I found it."

"When you grabbed your friend to leave," she said, "your free hand reached out and grabbed it."

I didn't know what to say. I must have grabbed it without thinking about it. Maybe it was something that I secretly wanted. When I thought about that, I thought about the conversation with Gon. I put the bottle on the table.

"I won't be needing it," I said.

I left the shop and saw Gon standing right in front of me. He had an impatient look on his face that was sort of mixed with an angry look. He leaned in to me and I leaned back. I was about to say something when he grabbed my arm and rushed me toward the airport.

When we arrived at the airport, we went up to the tickets desk and Gon showed his confirmation paper. When the lady at the desk asked how we were gonna pay, Gon looked at me. I sighed and took out my bank card and paid for the tickets. We boarded the first available flight and we were off to meet our friends in Yorknew City.

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A/N: One last thing to note is that I did do some (Wikipedia) research on Tarot cards and used two actual cards from the "Major Arcanum", while the third was completely my own. I might have changed the pictures on the actual two, but that's beside the point.  
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	7. Kitakura

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A/N: Sorry about the delay on this chapter. Had a busy weekend (not crazy busy like when I was writing Chapter 1, but still busy). Also had a little bit of writer's block while writing it. I hate writer's block, just saying that now.  
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Chapter 6: Kitakura

"Oh wow," Gon said in amazement as the old man led us into his library, "Such a big room!"

"Go on," the man said, "take a look around, find something you like."

Gon ran straight ahead to a shelf full of books. The shelf ran from one wall to the other and there were countless more like it, leaving only a little space for walking in between them to get to the books on the ends. There was also a second level off to the right of the door with more rows of bookshelves, however, these weren't end-to-end. I decided to have a look up there.

"Have you read all of these books, Kitakura?" Gon asked

"Oh, no," Kitakura said, "I inherited this house from my father, who died a long time ago, and I never was much of a reader. Though, I do try and keep this place tidy, as a sort of memorial to my father."

Gon and I had met Kitakura after our plane had to make an unexpected landing. He was almost as tall as Kite, just a bit shorter, and had grey hair and dark brown eyes. I didn't exactly trust him, but he seemed nice. He invited us to stay at his house while our plane was landed.

As I made my way up to the second level, I could hear Gon talking about all the books he read at his home. I let out a snort, trying to hold in a laugh. Gon looked up at me and scowled. That made it difficult to hold in the laugh, but I barely managed.

"What's so funny, Killua?" Gon asked, still scowling at me.

"I've been to your house, Gon," I said, "And you have maybe two books in your room that don't have pictures in them."

"So?" Gon said, turning his scowl into a mock-pout, "The point is, I've read them."

"Yeah," I said, "Up until the book starts using too many big words. Then you put a bookmark in them and leave them for who knows how long."

"I-it's not like that, Killua!" Gon said, a little red, "It's that I get too tired to read any more of them, so I bookmark where I left off! And it's been a long time since I've read them because I was with you, so" he stuck his tongue out at me.

"Right." I said, continuing my ascent up the stairs leading to the second level.

To tell the truth, I never actually read what the books were. I only saw that he had them. However, I could tell by his reaction, that it wasn't 'big words' or that he was 'too tired', it was something else. Something that he probably didn't want his Aunt Mito finding out. I made a mental note to make sure to torture him about it later.

When I got up to the second level, I noticed that the books up here were bigger than normal books. I took one out of the shelf and read the title: _Encyclopaedia of Human Anatomy_. Oh, so these were books for gaining knowledge about certain things. I put the book back and continued to browse the second level. As I was walking around, something unusual caught my eye.

I went to the railing and said, "Hey, old man."

"Yes, Killua," he said glancing in my direction very briefly, "What is it?"

"You said that these books were organized in sections, right?"

"I did."

"Then what's this section over here?" I pointed to a section that was all dusty and covered in cobwebs. I figured it hadn't been cleaned for at least a few years.

"Oh," he said looking at a book he had pulled from the shelf, "That section isn't very important. It's about myths and legends. It wasn't my favorite section, or my father's for that matter. So, I really didn't see a need to keep it clean for his memorial."

"Huh." I said while walking back to the dirty section.

When I got there, I blew on the books to get some dust off. What I didn't expect was that the dust would gather up close to my face, forcing me to cough and wave my hand in front to get the dust away. Once the dust was clear, I ran my hand over them, reading their titles. My hand stopped on one particular book.

"Oh, you have got to kidding me." I said in disbelieving annoyance as I read the title of the book. "Stupid Kite. Stupid Natsuki. Stupid fortune teller. I hate them all."

The title of the book read: _The Fountain of Eternal Youth_. The book never would have peaked my interest if it weren't for Kite first telling me about the fountain. I could have just passed it up, even then. But then Natsuki had to say that it was real and then those stupid fortune cards telling me I'd go on some sort of quest to find this thing. I had to read this book now.

"'Whosoever drinketh from this fountain shall gain youth for ever and shall never die,'" I read, "'Yea, from this fountain springs forth the waters of life. Alas, the road to it shall be full of peril and danger that only the bravest of souls may venture forth. Though the challenges contain lies, deceit and murder, a strong will and a pure heart shall find destiny.'"

"What'cha reading, Killua?" Gon said from behind me.

I nearly jumped right out of my skin. I hated when people snuck up on me like that. I wasn't even sure _how_ they could sneak up on me like that. Part of my training as an assassin had taught me to detect when people were behind me. Yet Gon had done it-_twice_ no less!-and the fortune teller lady had done it. I was beginning to doubt I could sense when a _bug_ had snuck up on me!

"Oh! Uh," I began, "I-it's nothing, Gon. Just a really boring book." I looked out the window to see the sun had already set. I faked a yawn and said, "Boy, I sure am getting tired, aren't you, Gon?"

As soon as I faked my yawn, Gon yawned for real. He started rubbing his eyes when he said, "Now that you mention it, I am getting kinda sleepy."

I put the book back and walked over to the rails again and said, "Hey, Old man. You said we could sleep here, right?" Kitakura nodded. "We're pretty tired now, so where are we sleeping?"

"Oh, follow me," he said, "I'll show you to your room. Unfortunately, I only have one room that's free to use. I have family staying in the other rooms."

Before we got to the stairs leading to the main floor of the library, Gon had fallen asleep so I carried him. I was carrying him like I was a few days ago, when we were running from the burning forest. However, with Gon being asleep, I couldn't really say I made him embarrassed. Kitakura stepped out of the library after me and closed the door.

"The bed is big enough for two people," he said continuing from where he left off, "especially for boys your age, but I can bring up a cot, if you'd like."

The last time somebody had said something was big enough for us, it was Kite's sleeping bag. And that was so tight, I was almost rubbing Gon whenever I moved. Thinking back on that made me blush slightly. I almost accepted Kitakura's offer to bring up a cot, when Gon whispered something in my ear.

I blushed at what he said and told Kitakura, "N-no, that's okay. We'll be fine with just the bed."

"Well, alright, then," he said as he opened a door, "Here's your room."

The room was big. Not as big as the library, but bigger than the hallway we walked down to get to it. The bed was facing the door, with the headboard up against the wall. There was a window on the right side of the door and another door on the opposite side.

"Goodnight, boys," Kitakura said, closing the door behind us.

I heard the door lock after it was closed. My suspicion of Kitakura was growing. _Who locks their guests in their room_, I thought. I walked over to the bed and sat down. I took Gon's arms from around me and he immediately plopped down.

After I straightened him out, I went to the other side of the bed and laid down next to him. I stared at him for a long time, watching his chest move in and out with every breath he took. I thought about the events of the past few days, after we had met Kite. It all seemed like such a blur to me, but I remembered the fortune teller lady using her Nen to show Gon that I would kill him. I wondered how he could sleep so peacefully after having been shown that.

Before I knew it, my eyes were closed and I was sleeping. And I was dreaming. But it wasn't the normal kind of dream, it was more like a nightmare. A nightmare that should never have found me in the first place.

In my dream, I saw Gon. He was all happy and Gon-like, running around trying to catch something with his bare hands. He stopped and turned to face me and waved, calling me over to him. I tried to run, but something was holding me back. I looked back and saw my brother, Illumi, with his hand on my shoulder.

"_You don__'__t deserve friends.__"_ His voice echoed through my mind, _"__The only reason you__'__re with him is because you want to kill him.__"_

I turned around to look at Gon again, who was still waving me over to him. I ran to him. He tackled me to the ground and we rolled around until I was sitting on top of him. I could see his eyes turn from joy to terror as my hand was raised above his head and then brought down right into his chest.

I shot up like a rocket, dripping in sweat. I looked over to see Gon still laying peacefully on the bed, his chest moving in and out with every breath. I sighed in relief and got out of bed. I walked over to the window and opened the curtain part way so, if the sun was shining, it wouldn't wake up Gon.

I shielded my eyes from the sun, that was burning bright in the sky, to let my eyes adjust. I saw a lot of people outside, going about their daily business. It wasn't anything too suspicious, but this thought just kept bugging me. I tried to remember what it was, as I remembered when the pilot said the plane had to make an unexpected landing in this town.

"Folks," the pilot said, "this is your pilot speaking. Unfortunately, it looks like our plane is having some technical issues. We ask that you not panic, as we will have be landing somewhere shortly to fix the problem."

The plane landed and everyone was asked to leave the plane. I heard somebody say that the town was abandoned because of the monsters that lived in the forest at the other edge of town. Another person said they heard the monsters ate flesh. I didn't believe that flesh-eating creatures could make an entire town abandon their homes.

I'd lost Gon somewhere in the crowd and started to look for him as the crowd thinned out. I didn't see him near the plane. I began to wonder where he went, when I saw him running through town. I ran to catch up to him and grabbed his legs, bringing him to the ground.

"Let go of me, Killua!" He shouted as he started to kick his feet.

"Calm down, Gon!" I yelled back.

He got one of his feet free and it started to kick my face. I grabbed it and pulled it down. Then, with one hand on his legs, I moved to the side of him and hit him on the head. He yelled at me and I yelled at him. Then he punched me in the face.

Pretty soon, we were rolling around on the ground, punching and kicking each other and calling each other names. We were stopped when somebody had grabbed our shirts and picked us up. We were still trying to get at each other, even though we were held on opposite sides of the man, who introduced himself as John Kitakura. He said his arms were getting tired from us "thrashing about", as he put it, and made us promise not to fight anymore after he put us down.

I explained our situation to him, by saying that our plane broke down and made an emergency landing in this town. I looked around and noticed that the other passengers on the plane were either wandering around town looking for a place to stay or camping by the plane hoping it'd be fixed and they'd be the first ones on. My guess was that they hadn't gotten the seats they wanted and were going to steal someone else's seats. It was fine with me, so long as they didn't take our seats. Then I noticed that there wasn't anybody around that live here.

"Where are all the people in this town?" I asked curiously.

He looked sad for a moment, which made his face wrinkle, and said, "I'm the only one left that lives in town. Everybody else either left or was eaten by the monsters."

"Monsters?" Gon asked.

"They live in the forest and only come out at night," Kitakura explained, "It's hard to tell them from regular humans because they look exactly like us."

"Why haven't you left?" I asked.

"I have my family to think of," he said, "My wife is sick and the only thing that keeps her in this world is our little grandchildren. I'd say they're about your age, maybe a little bit younger. But enough about my silly little troubles, you can stay at my house while your plane is getting repaired. Come."

We followed him to his house, which looked like it had three full levels to it. He said that his family had lived in that house his entire life and even before that. When we got closer, I noticed a faded gold plate of the door. A sign that said 'Library'. I questioned him about it.

"This was once the town library," he said, "When I was younger, my father would run books from his own personal library to the town. He said it helped keep the community strong. Of course, he was talking about the books. It was always about the books."

He said that last sentence in a spiteful tone, though he tried his best not to show it. He then cheered up and asked if we'd like to see his father's pride, the library. Gon immediately accepted before I could say anything else. I looked at him in a quizzical glance and he responded with a sheepish grin. I sighed and we walked in the front door.

I still didn't quite remember what was wrong about the townspeople out doing their daily routines. Gon stirred and I closed the curtain to turn and look at him. He stretched and yawned. He looked at me and smiled.

"Good morning, Killua!" He said with way too much excitement for having just woken up.

"Morning," I responded, "Sleep well?"

He nodded and said, "Yep! I had the best dream ever! What about you?"

"Oh yeah," I lied, "I slept great." I stretched and went back over to the bed. "So, tell me, what was your dream about, Gon?"

"It was about you." He said without even blushing. Normally when he admitted he dreamed about me, he blushed. Instead, he wore a big grin. That made me blush a bit and Gon laughed.

I grabbed his ears and pulled them. "Tell me what your dream was about or I'll pull harder!" I threatened.

"Ow, ow, ow! Okay!" He said. I let go of his ears. "I was walking through a forest somewhere when I saw something move in the bushes. I walked over to where it was and I was ambushed by dozens of creatures all snarling at me." He made snarling noises while he moved his hands the way a cat would when it played with yarn. "I took out a whole bunch of them, but more kept coming. I was about to give up, when I heard you call my name."

"Yeah?" I said, urging him to go on, "So I called your name and then what happened?"

"I woke up." Gon said bluntly.

I hit him on the head. I was going to say something about how he's an idiot, but the door unlocked and Kitakura came in. Something looked different about him, though. It looked like he had aged over night. I wondered how that was possible. However, before I could say anything, he spoke.

"Good morning, boys," He said in a raspier tone than what he spoke in yesterday, "I hope you enjoyed your sleep."

"Yeah," I said, "Why'd you lock the door?"

"Oh, I always lock every door at night," He explained, "That way, if the monsters somehow found their way into the house, they wouldn't attack anybody."

I was sceptical of his answer, but it satisfied my curiosity. He said that breakfast would be ready soon and that we should get ready. He then left down the hall. I noticed something different about his footsteps as he left, too. Yesterday, he walked perfectly upright, even on both feet. However, today, one foot was heavier than the other. I noticed Gon was getting out of bed and decided not to bring it up just yet.

I got out of bed and walked to the other door. Behind that door was the bathroom. I went to the sink and turned it on. Cupping some water in my hands, I splashed it on my face and rubbed. I found the towel and dried my face off then I ran to catch up to Gon, who had already left the room.

As we entered the dining room, we saw Kitakura's family. His grandsons were fighting over a piece of bacon, saying they each grabbed it first. They looked to be just younger than us. A woman, who I guessed to be their mother, was telling them that there was enough food for everybody and tore the bacon in half, giving one to each of them, before she sat down at one end of the table. Kitakura was sitting at the other end reading a newspaper.

We sat down on the opposite side of the table Kitakura's grandsons were at. Gon tried to make polite conversation with them, but they just ignored him and stuffed their faces. I thought it was kind of rude and was gonna say something, but Gon did it first, which surprised me. He didn't usually chew people out. I always figured it was my job.

"Aunt Mito always said," he began, "'When somebody talks to you, you should say something back to them!'"

Gon steamed until he saw the food on the table. He took some and I did the same. It had been so long since I've had a home cooked meal that my mouth was watering from the first bite. I was wrapped up in my meal when a thought came to me. A thought about the book I'd seen the day before and the fortune that was told to me before that.

"Gon," I whispered to him, "After we eat, let's go to the library. I want to show you a book I found."

"Okay," Gon said, nodding.

"Now, boys," Kitakura said from behind the newspaper, "after breakfast isn't the best time to be reading. After breakfast is the time to do chores."

"Chores?" I complained, "What kind of host makes their guests do chores?"

"The kind of host who can't afford to do everything." Kitakura said.

He explained that he didn't need us to do much, that his grandsons would do the most of it. He told us the he needed us to get some supplies for dinner tonight. We weren't even sure if we were gonna be staying for dinner, but Gon agreed. We finished up our breakfast and Kitakura gave us a list and some Jenny to get the stuff on the list.

We walked out of Kitakura's house into a busy market place. People were running everywhere and buying things. The whole scene just didn't seem right for some reason. It kept nagging at me the whole time we were out and I couldn't, for the life of me, remember why.

We asked around for places that sold the items on our list. Some of the people were helpful and some were non-respondent. I concluded that most of the people of the town were either busy with their own things that they couldn't help us or they were just plain rude. It took us about an hour to get everything on the list.

When we got back to Kitakura's house, the old man greeted us with a scowl. However, his tone was pleasant. When I looked again, the scowl had disappeared and replaced with a smile. I asked if we could go to the library now.

"Yes," Kitakura said, "sure. I'll let you read. It's like my father used to say, 'Reading builds relationships.' I'm not sure how he came up with that saying, though. He probably got it from a book or something."

He went on like that for a while and I decided to slip away and take Gon to where I found the book on the Fountain of Youth. On the way, I told him about what happened at the Fortune Teller's. Of course, I didn't tell him about _The Lovers_ card and _The Chariot_ card I had gotten previous to _The Fountain_ card. I couldn't tell him about those. Especially not the first one.

We got to where the book was the day before and I pulled it out to show Gon. However, I found that there were only pictures in it today. I wondered how that was and Gon just eyed me suspiciously. He didn't need to say it because I knew what he was thinking.

"Do you think I would make something like that up?" I asked, "This book had words in it yesterday, I swear!"

"I believe you, Killua." Gon said, trustingly.

I hated that trusting tone right now. I just didn't understand how he could be so trusting of me. I basically told him that I was thinking of murdering him and yet, he was willing to put his trust in me. At times, I had wondered why I hadn't killed Gon yet, and right then, I think I found my answer.

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A/N: I'm sorry to do this to you, people, but the next chapter is going to be a little while. Yes, even longer than this chapter, but not as long as it took to get around to writing the story. GOSH no! I have something over a year in the making that I want to get done so I can upload it next month. I'm not saying what it is or what it's for, but it is Hunter X Hunter-related. So, make sure you're following me (as an author) for next month because it's going to be A-MAY-ZAAAAAH! However, the next chapter will probably be released before my special secret story. That's all I wanted to say. Thanks again for liking this story and look for the next chapter... uh... sometime next month. Hopefully it'll be sooner in the month, rather than later and enjoy my special secret story when it is released.

~Jay  
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	8. Youth Potion Number 9

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A/N: OH. MY. GOODNESS! IT'S FINALLY DONE! AGH! Alright, so, I started this after I had completed my "special secret story", called "It's A Wonderful Hunter's Life" (It you haven't already, you should go check it out because it is awesome because I am awesome and I wrote it therefore with me being awesome and me writiing it, it is naturally awesome), and that was in November. However, I didn't have much time to work on it that weekend as I had to help my brother move on both Friday and Saturday. Then, I had a minor writer's block (nothing too bad) on Monday. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, I had to watch my nephews for a few hours and that resulted in a major writer's block. Also, I got a cold from one of my nephews (as I was just getting over one) and that contributed to my writer's block. But, it finally got done. And now, it's on to Chapter 8! Yay?  
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Chapter 7: Youth Potion Number 9

Kitkura came into the library while I was trying to figure out how the book worked. I tried closing it and opening it, trying to get the words I'd read yesterday to appear. Nothing happened. I tried shaking the book, but nothing happened. I even tried to turn the book upside down, but no words ever appeared.

"Boys!" Kitakura snapped as he entered the room.

His voice was much less raspy and it seemed like he was mad about something. I could have cared less about what Kitakura wanted because I was busy with the book. I told Gon to go see what he wanted while I tried to figure out how the book worked. I knew there had to be some kind of secret. There just _had_ to be!

"Yes?" Gon asked as he got to the rail on the second level of the library.

"You've been in here all day," Kitakura seemed less angry when he was talking to Gon, "You really should come and eat something. My daughter has made a meal that I'm sure you'd enjoy."

"Not hungry!" I shouted from my position on the floor, still turning the book to make words appear.

"I'm not really that hungry, either, Mr. Kitakura." Gon added.

"Very well, boys," Kitakura said, "but you best not miss out on breakfast."

He was about to leave when I shouted, "Oi! I really like the story in this book, but I'm feeling a little tired."

"Then you should go to bed, Killua," he said in a harsh tone that was thinly disguised as caring, "The book will still be there tomorrow."

"But I don't really want to put it down," I said, "Could I take it to my room and read it?"

I wasn't expecting my ploy to work, but I really wanted to find out how to work the book. I knew that if I took the book to my room, then I could discuss it with Gon in private. In the library, somebody could walk in at any minute and hear what we were talking about. I didn't want that. If I was supposed to go on a quest to find this fountain, then I was taking Gon with me and if I was taking Gon with me, I needed to discuss my plans with him.

Gon obviously knew I wanted to study the book and talk about it because he pleaded, "Please?"

"Well," Kitakura began, softened by Gon, "All right, but have it put back first thing in the morning, before breakfast."

"Thank you!" Gon said.

Kitakura walked out of the library. I stood up and stretched out, with the book still in my hands. I walked down the stairs leading to the second level and looked out the door of the library very cautiously. If Kitakura was around, he'd probably want to see what book was so interesting that I had to read it in the room. Fortunately, he wasn't around, so I motioned for Gon to follow me and we walked to the room.

In the room, I sat on the bed and opened up the book again. This time it was blank. No words, no pictures, nothing. I flipped through the pages to find that each one was like that. However, on the very last page, I noticed a mark. It wasn't anything too significant, probably just a slip from a pencil or something nearby when the book was opened. What intrigued me was that it wasn't faded and it looked like a word. A single word that I couldn't make out.

I turned to Gon to show him, but he was already asleep. I had an urge to punch him and wake him up, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. He looked so peaceful and he had a big smile on his face. It was the exact opposite of how I felt. I couldn't place it, but there was something off about Kitakura today. I decided to put the book aside and go to sleep.

Morning came when I had a similar dream to the one I had last night. It was all that stupid fortune teller's fault that I was having these nightmares. They had been suppressed deep in my mind for the longest time and ever since that lady touched my shoulder and brought the thought out, I started having the nightmares. I couldn't quite explain it, either, but I also felt something different last night. It felt like someone, or some_thing_, was getting power from the dreams. I vaguely recall seeing a face that wasn't there before, but I'm not sure who or what it belonged to.

I went over to the window again and pulled the curtain to where I had the previous day. Shielding my eyes again, I saw that nobody was outside. Nobody was walking the streets, they weren't making conversations, they weren't out of their houses. I felt a nagging sensation at the back of my mind that something was not right with this town. I was about to hit myself, to force myself to remember what was wrong, when I heard Gon move.

"Morning, Killua." He yawned.

"Morning," I replied, "I want to show you what I found in the book last night."

I sat back down on the bed and took the book from the night stand, where I left it last night. I opened the book and it was blank, just like it was last night. Gon stared at it, bewildered, as he had seen yesterday that it had pictures in it. I flipped the pages and showed him that they were all empty. When I got to the final page, I was expecting the mark to have vanished, as the book seemed to like making a fool out of me. However, the mark was still there, in the same spot as it was before. I asked Gon if he could make it out.

Gon squinted his eyes, trying to get a closer look. Then he said, "No."

"I thought so," I said, "It was worth a try."

"What did you think it was, Killua?" Gon asked.

"To me," I began, "it looked like it was a word. A word that I'd seen and heard before."

The door opened and Kitakura was in the door way. He looked to be about a thousand or so years old and very hairy. He had a full on beard with side burns that connected to it. His chest hair was poking through his shirt in bunches and it seemed like his arms and legs were completely covered. The reason why I thought he looked older was because his whole face was wrinkled up. It also looked like his nose was slightly larger.

"Good morning boys," he said.

His voice sounded like a dog's would if it could talk human. I looked at Gon and he looked at me. I knew he was thinking the same thing I was: there was something strange about Kitakura. We said 'good morning' back to him and he told us that breakfast would be ready soon. He waited for us to get ready and allowed us to go out first. As I walked past him, he sniffed my hair.

I thought it was creepy that he would just suddenly do that. A few steps later, I tripped over something. Kitakura walked ahead as I looked back to find there was nothing wrong with the floor. I knew that I couldn't have just tripped over my own feet. It was just all too weird.

Gon saw me trip and offered a hand to help me up. I took it and stood up. I still didn't know why I had tripped, but I had a sneaky suspicion it was Kitakura. But I didn't feel his leg between mine, so how could he have tripped me? Once I was standing, Gon started to walk after Kitakura, but I held him back because I wanted to talk to him once Kitakura was just out of ear shot.

"I think Kitakura tripped me," I whispered.

Gon looked at me, confused, and asked, "How?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "but I think it might have something to do with how he sniffed my hair just a moment ago. I felt something come out of me. Like, energy or something."

"Huh," Gon said, "That's weird."

"I know," I said, "but it's the only reason I-"

"You don't normally trip when I sniff your hair," Gon cut me off.

"I…" I stammered, "I… _What!?_"

"Well, then again," Gon said, putting a hand over his chin as if thinking about something, "you're usually asleep when I do that. Mmm…" he closed his eyes as if he was remembering something pleasant, "Chocolate. Must be because of all the sweets you eat."

He laughed and I hit him over the head. I turned around so he couldn't see my face, which was about as red as a tomato, and said, "You idiot, this is serious!"

Out the corner of my eye, I saw him rub his head. He was still smiling when he said, "I know. So what are we gonna do?"

"I don't know," I admitted, "but whatever we do, we'd better do it today. I think I want to take this book with us, too."

"But won't Kitakura notice it's missing?" Gon asked.

"I don't think so," I said, "Remember? He said he doesn't clean the section it's in. So it'll be fine."

We walked to the library because, for now, I decided to do what Kitakura wanted. What he wanted was the book back before breakfast. I could always just use one of the techniques I learned as an assassin or my Nen to get it back. I walked up to the second level of the library, to where I found the book. I was about to put it back, when I saw that the gap was wider.

There should only be a gap of one book, however, it looked like two books were missing. I know that Gon didn't take any books, so could it have been Kitakura? It seemed like he was the only one who entered the library, so that was my immediate guess. But if Kitakura took a book, then what book was it? And what did he want it for?

I thought back to all the books I saw on the shelf. It was hard because I wasn't really paying attention to any of them. I remembered seeing a book about Dragons and a book about never ending forests, but those were still there. I ran down a list of what I remembered, seeing every book on the shelf. The last one that I remembered seeing was one about potions. That was the missing book.

"Boys," Kitakura called from the entrance of the library, "breakfast."

I put the book back and followed Gon, who started running at the word 'breakfast', down the stairs and into the dining room. We sat at the table where we had been the previous day, to find only Kitakura was there. There was no sign of his daughter or grandsons, but the food on the table was prepared how it was yesterday. There were also only three places set.

_This just keeps getting weirder and weirder_, I thought. "Where's everyone else?" I inquired.

"They ate earlier," Kitakura said between heavy breaths that sounded like growls, "I wanted to talk to you boys in private. I have a special task for you today. You must go to the next town, about an hour away, and get the supplies on this list."

He took a piece of paper out of his shirt pocket and put it back before I could get a good look at it. I asked him why we had to go to the next town and he glared at me. What was strange is that I couldn't feel anything from his glare. I mean, sure I knew he didn't trust me, or even like me for that matter, but his eyes just seemed hollow. There was nothing to them. Gon asked my question.

"All the stores are closed today," Kitakura said, "One day a week, they all close down. Now, you just focus on eating."

During breakfast, I had a thought. The town was about an hour away and shopping would take some time. So, if Kitakura didn't expect us back for a few hours, we could get away. All we needed to do was convince Kitakura to take our stuff with us. I figured it wouldn't be too hard if Gon asked. The only problem was not letting Kitakura hear. While I was getting some food, my arm accidentally knocked one of Gon's utensils off the table.

"Oh," I said, "Gon, your knife just went under the table. I'll help you get it."

I admit that it was old, but I was just going with the spur of the moment. If there was anything better I could've done, I would have done it. Gon just looked at me, confused. He knew that it didn't take two people to get a simple knife, but he apparently didn't catch on to what I was saying. I decided to reiterate my point.

"I'll help you get you knife back, Gon," I said through gritted teeth, while pointing under the table.

"Oh," Gon said, "Thanks, Killua."

We slipped from our chairs and went under the table. I did some hand signs to him, but he didn't understand. I tried doing them slower, in case he couldn't read because I was doing them too fast. He still didn't understand what I was trying to tell him. So I mouthed the words to him while still doing the hand signs. He nodded in understanding.

When we got back into our seats, Kitakura looked at me suspiciously. Then he glanced at Gon in the same look before returning to me. We both smiled innocently and Gon held up his knife, showing Kitakura that we had found it. We ate for a little bit in silence before I nudged Gon, which startled him. He looked at me and I nodded. He nodded as well.

"Um," Gon broke the silence, "Kitakura?"

"Yes, Gon?" Kitakura said kindly. Though, it was hard to tell with his voice getting rougher and deeper.

"Since we're going to be gone for a while," Gon began, "would it be alright if we took our bags with us?"

"Well," Kitakura started.

"And some extra Jenny." Gon added quickly.

I looked at him in surprise. That wasn't part of my plan. I should have known that Gon would have done something. He never stuck to any plan. He must have noticed my surprised look because he winked at me. Seeing him wink made me blush and I looked away and concentrated on my food.

"I don't-" Kitakura said.

"Plea~se!" Gon said.

"Well," Kitakura said, "Alright."

The way Kitakura accepted so fast made me realize that Gon had just used the eyes on him. For once, I was glad that he had used the eyes. I was still probably going to hit him for using them and I'm pretty sure that Gon knew that because he was grinning like a mad man. I let him relish in his temporary victory.

While Gon was still eating, after I had finished, I excused myself from the table. I ran to the library and up to the second level where I had put the book on the Fountain of Youth. To my surprise, I saw that the shelf was full again. The book on the potions was back. I knew I didn't have time to read it, but I just couldn't help but wonder why the book had been absent this morning.

I grabbed the book from the shelf and turned it open. I flipped through the pages quickly and confirmed my suspicion that a page had been taken out. It was probably the piece of paper Kitakura had in his pocket. The only down side was that I still didn't know what it was for. I was going to close the book when the pages fell to the Table of Contents. It was a good thing my thumb had stayed at the page on instinct because I looked at the pages before and after the missing one, noticing the numbers.

"257 for the first one," I made a note, "and 259 for the second." I turned back to the Table of Contents and scanned it for page number 258. When my finger found the right number, I slid it over to see what was on it. "Youth Potion?"

That didn't sound good. My mind jumped to all sorts of conclusions. Kitakura was probably going to kill us, cut us up, and put us in a huge witch's pot to make this potion. Or he was going to boil us alive to make the potion. Other situations came to my mind, but I dismissed them because we were never coming back to this town after we left. I put the book back and grabbed the one on the Fountain of Youth. I heard Kitakura walk into the library.

"Killua," he barked. No, seriously, he barked like an actual dog.

I jumped to my feet, just enough so he could see my shoulders above the rail. "Yeah?" I said, putting the book in my shorts partly and covering the rest with my shirt.

"What are you doing in here?" Kitakura asked.

"I just wanted to get some last minute reading in," I lied, "It was such a good book that I couldn't finish it last night." I laughed nervously.

"Well," Kitakura said, apparently accepting my answer, "Gon asked me to tell you that he's almost done eating. So go get ready to leave. I expect you back as soon as possible."

Kitakura left and I sighed in relief. I walked down to the first level of the library and looked out the door for any signs of Kitakura. I was fortunate, once again, as Kitakura was nowhere to be seen. I ran to the room, closed the door, took the book out of my shorts and put it in Gon's bag. I had a feeling that if Kitakura were to check our bags, he'd only check mine because he seemed to like Gon.

Gon entered the room just as I was finishing zipping his bag up. I heard the door open and turned my head to see him. He wondered what I was doing, but I told him not to worry about it and that I'd tell him later. He was fine with this because he knew if I didn't tell him, he'd force me to tell him. I could think of a few ways he'd force me, but I didn't want to think about it at the moment. I just wanted to focus on getting away from Kitakura.

Moments later, we were at the front door of Kitakura's house. He pulled out the "shopping list" from his shirt pocket once again and gave it to me. He told me not to open it until we got to the next town. I agreed to do so. Next, he gave Gon the money he assumed would be enough to buy all the supplies. He was about to send us off when Gon reminded him about the extra money he promised to give us.

Kitakura smiled an unpleasant, hungry-looking smile, and said, "Oh, yes. How could I have forgotten." He gave Gon a stack of bundled Jenny. "There. You boys take a little extra time shopping for yourselves, but make sure to be back before nightfall."

I remembered what he said about night in this town, but I wanted to make sure he remembered. So I said, "Why? What'll happen then?"

He looked at me, still smiling-which I found disturbing-and said "Why, it'll be close to suppertime. Now, you two run along."

Kitakura opened the door and we walked out. Kita kura told us to have fun and he went back inside and closed the door. I had just remembered what felt so off about the town. I remembered that the passengers on the plane had said how monsters had scared off all the villagers here. I remembered I heard that the monsters sometimes took the forms of humans. I grabbed Gon's arm and started to run.

Gon was initially shocked by the sudden yank on his arm, but was quickly step for step with me. Of course, I still had hold of his arm for safe measure. We ran through the town, seeing it deserted and abandoned. We didn't stop running until we hit the forest. However, we didn't stop moving. We continued walking for about ten minutes before we stopped to rest. I figured it was a safe distance away from the town. Gon asked why we had to run out of town and I told him what I had remembered hearing about the town and what I had found out at the library. Gon looked at me as if he still didn't understand what I was trying to tell him.

"Don't you get it, Gon?" I said, "Kitakura's a monster. He's probably very old and he wants to use us for a youth potion."

"Why does he need a potion?" Gon asked, "Why couldn't he just find the Fountain of Youth and drink from it?"

"What part of 'very old' don't you understand?" I asked, "Don't you remember what Natsuki said about how the Fountain is very hard to get to?"

"Oh." Gon said, "Right. I remember now."

He laughed and I hit him on the head. I figured we'd rested long enough so I grabbed Gon's arm again and pulled him along in a brisk walk though the forest, hoping to reach the next town before too long. As we walked, I thought about what we were going to do. I decided the first thing was to see if our plane tickets still worked and then get to Yorknew to meet our friends. Somewhere along the way, my hand slid down Gon's arm and into his hand.


	9. Real Impostors, Fake Impostors

Chapter 8: Real Impostors, Fake Impostors

It wasn't long after we rested that we walked into town. At first glance, it wasn't much different from the town we had just come from. The buildings all seemed really old and broken down. However, as we walked through town, we noticed that there were new buildings and people were going in every direction, trying to get themselves whatever they needed before other people got them. I tried to stop somebody, but they either didn't hear me or was too busy to have time for me. Gon tired to do the same, but again, the person was too busy.

After several attempts at stopping people, we managed to find one person who wasn't acting like the world was ending the next day. At first the old man gave us a suspicious look, as if wondering what two kids were doing just wandering through town. Then, he looked down to see us holding hands and smiled a kind smile. It was the first time I noticed we were holding hands so I let go of Gon's hand and looked away, a little red. I noticed Gon was a little red, too, before I asked the man where the airport was.

"Airport?" The old man said, "We hadn't had one o' those in a long time." My hopes were slightly dashed, but not for long as the old man continued, "Yep. The last airport we had was way back in eighteen-oh-two, when I was just a lad. Back then, we had horse-drawn carriages with wings attached. And not just any old wings, they was dragon wings! Each day, our lads would find discarded dragon wings when they was runnin' through the forest. And our lads would bring them back into town so the goldsmith could tie them onto the carriages."

As soon as the old man said that horse-drawn carriages could fly, I immediately knew that his story was made up. Gon, on the other hand, seemed completely fascinated about it. He was hanging on the man's every word with anticipation of what was going to come next. A younger man came out of the building the old man was sitting in front of. He didn't seem happy that the old man was telling us his story.

"Grandpa," the younger man said, "How many times do I have to tell you, not to tell your crazy stories? Especially to kids. Now, run along inside, it's time for your daily exercise routine." He turned to us as his grandfather slowly walked inside and continued, "I'm sorry about my grandpa. Sometimes he watches shows on TV and they all mix together in his head, making him believe that they actually happened." He looked us over and said, "I see you aren't from around town. What did you need? Food? A drink? A place to spend the night? I'm sure I could be of some help."

Gon's eyes lit up at the mention of 'food' and I could tell that he was about to say something, so I covered his mouth and said, "Actually, we were looking for an airport. You see, our plane had to make an unexpected landing around here a few days ago and we were told that the best thing to do was go to an airport. Do you know where one is?"

"An airport?" The young man said, "We have an airport just on the other side of town. I can take you there, if you want."

The young man seemed sincere, but I was a little wary. Mainly because I didn't want another "Kitakura" incident. I respectfully declined his offer and just asked if he'd give us directions. He wrote some down on a piece of paper, as the town was much larger than I had first imagined it being, and gave it to me. I thanked him and we walked away.

As we walked, I put my hand in my pocket and felt a piece of paper. I had completely forgotten about the list Kitakua gave me. I figured I might as well see what items he was using for the Youth Potion so I took the piece of paper out of my pocket and opened it. There was black marker covering up some ingredients and the top of the page. I held it up to the sun in order to see it clearly. Most of the items were everyday foods, like ripe apples and fresh bread, but some were things you'd expect to find at a witch's house, like Eye of Newt and other things like that.

I crumpled the paper up and focused my Nen to let out a park that caught the paper on fire. I put the paper on the ground and the fire consumed it quickly. Before anybody could notice something was burning on the ground, I stamped it out. Gon was ahead of me a ways because I had stopped, so I ran to catch up to him. I just had to do one last thing before I could completely forget about Kitakura. I hit Gon over the head.

"Ow!" Gon said, "What was that for, Killua?"

"For using the eyes on Kitakura," I said, "Now, let's never bring him up again."

Gon's happy mood seemed to be ruined because I hit him. But I knew that his day would brighten again. It always did. No matter what happened to him, be it getting taken hostage or getting his arm blown off, he always manages to make the most of his day. And not even a minute after I had hit him, did a smile return to his face. It made me smile.

We walked to the airport all smiles. We walked up to the desk and I pulled out my plane ticket. I asked if we could still board with them. The lady behind the desk took my ticket and looked at it for at least a minute or two before she handed it back to me. She said that the tickets we had weren't any good and that we'd have to buy new ones. I asked if we could just exchange them because we were still going to the place on the tickets. She thought about it for another minute. I was getting a little impatient.

"Alright," she said, "Here's a note that you can take to the exchange counter over there." She handed me a piece of paper and pointed to the wall.

Gon thanked her as I ushered him to move. It didn't take long to reach the exchange counter, but it still took a few minutes because of all the people. Gon and I almost got separated, but I grabbed his arm and pulled him towards me to prevent that. I must have pulled a little too hard because when I let go, he was rubbing his shoulder. I didn't pay it any attention, though and told him to keep close.

As we got closer to the exchange counter, I told Gon to give me his ticket. There was a line of maybe ten people when we got there. It moved pretty fast, though. When it was our turn, I gave the guy the piece of paper with out tickets. He read the note and gave us new tickets to Yorknew City. He explained where we'd be boarding and pointed us in the fastest direction. I was in too much of a hurry to thank the man so Gon did it as I pulled him away.

Our boarding gate was on the second level and the man said that the escalator on the north side of the building was the fastest way to get up there. So, we walked to the north side of the airport and saw a couple of familiar faces. Two men, both around their late teens or early twenties, stood by a pillar. The taller one had spiked black hair and wore a navy blue suit and dark sunglasses. The shorter of the two had blond hair and was wearing a blue tabard. We recognized them as our friends, Leorio and Kurapika. Gon was about to run to them, but I held his shirt and stopped him.

"What're you doing, Killua?" He demanded, "Let go!"

I hit him over the head and said, "Use your brain, you idiot!"

Gon was confused by this. I sighed and said, "Think. Why would Kurapika and Leorio be here?"

"Well," Gon said, "They obviously want to catch a plane to get to Yorknew City!"

"Okay," I said, "but why would they be _here_?" I pointed to the ground to emphasize that I meant where we were. Gon seemed confused so I continued, "Why would they be at this particular airport that's in the middle of nowhere?"

"They wanted to fly to Yorknew with us?" Gon tried.

"And how would they know where we were?" I countered, "We didn't send any emails or letters saying where we were at. Plus, _we_ don't even know where we're at! Leorio and Kurapika were doing different things, probably thousands of miles away from each other. Why would they just randomly show up at an airport together?"

"Um…" Gon was obviously at a loss for words at what I'd said.

Even though I knew they weren't our friends, they looked exactly like them. I could see their lips moving, but I couldn't hear what they were saying or even if they sounded like our friends. Curiosity got the better of me, as I started moving towards them in silence. Gon followed close behind me. As I got closer, I noticed a slight height difference between these impostors and our real friends. Leorio seemed just a bit shorter and Kurapika was a slight bit higher than normal. It probably would have fooled me if I hadn't been paying attention.

"Man, why do we have to stand here waiting for a couple of brats?" Leorio said, "I feel like I've been standing here for days. Are we sure they're going to come here? This suit is so uncomfortable, it's making me look ridiculous."

"You feel ridiculous?" Kurapika asked, "Look at me! It looks like I'm wearing a freaking dress! I'd feel embarrassed just wearing this in my house."

Their voices sounded almost exactly like the people they were impersonating, with one slight difference. The difference was so slight that even I had to concentrate hard to pinpoint it. To be honest, even concentrating, I had difficulties. However, it wasn't me that had noticed the difference, it was Gon.

"Leorio's voice is too deep," Gon said, "And Kurapika's is too high."

I nodded, understanding, and said, "We need to find a way to get past them without being seen. But what could we do?"

My eyes darted from side to side, object to object, to find a suitable way past them. Then, my eyes noticed a rail on the second floor of the airport. I remembered back to the Hunter Exam and how Gon said he'd used his fishing rod to snatch Hisoka's ID Tag. That's when I had an idea.

I turned Gon around so his backpack was facing me. He protested as I looked through it for his rod, but I didn't pay him any mind. I found the object I searched for and put it back together. He asked me what I was doing and I just told him to watch. I flung the string and it hooked onto the rail. When Gon saw this, he complimented my genius. I tried my best not to let it go to my head.

"You go up first," I told Gon, "I'll follow right behind you."

Gon nodded and grabbed onto his pole. He put his feet against the wall and started climbing. I kept a lookout for the two impostors to make sure they didn't see us. I looked up to see Gon still climbing, but almost finished. I took this moment to start climbing myself. As I was climbing, my eyes weren't fixed to the wall in front of me, but on Gon above me. It felt a little weird, staring at Gon's ass as he climbed, but I just couldn't help it, it was sort of mesmerizing. I saw Gon's eye look down, but didn't think much of it until he said something.

"Enjoying the view, Killua?" He asked.

I blushed and looked at the wall in front of me and said, "I-I don't know what you mean, Gon. I-I'm just looking at the wall."

Gon laughed and I heard a new voice saying, "Hey! It's them!"

It was the Lerorio impostor. They had heard Gon's laugh and came to see what was happening. I started to climb faster and I bumped into Gon. He hadn't moved since the Leorio impostor had spotted us. I pushed him up with my hand, while I put my foot under the pole and kicked it into the air. I hoped that it'd stay airborne long enough for us to get over the rail. I kept pushing Gon, even though he was moving by himself. I heard the _clack_ of the pole hitting the wall but didn't concern myself with that, as I knew it'd go right back into the air.

"Move, Gon," I said, "Hurry!"

"I'm hurrying!" He said, "I'm hurry-ah! Got it!"

He lifted himself up over the rail, turned around and offered me a hand. I grabbed it and he pulled me up. He pulled a little too hard, though, as I fell right on top of him ass soon as I was over the rail. Our eyes were locked into the others' for what seemed like a minute, but was only around a second before I heard another _clack_ on the wall. I remembered the pole and got up to get it. Before the Leorio impostor could grab it, I put my hand underneath and flipped it up. I'd intended to flip it so I could grab it, but it went over my head. I followed it's path as it fell into Gon's arms.

I almost complimented him on his catch, but I saw the Kurapika impostor just get off the escalator and look around for us. I grabbed Gon's arm and dragged him along towards our gate. The Kurapika impostor noticed us and started after us. However, we were already at the gate, where I showed our tickets to the attendant. She looked at our tickets for a second and gave them back to me, saying we could go on. We ran onto the plane with the Kurapika impostor getting stopped before he could chase us. I looked back and stuck my tongue out at him.

==-==-==-x==-==-==-==-x-==-==-==-x-==-==-==-==x-==-==-==

Once the plane was in the air, I let myself relax. It had been a long day and it was only still morning! Well, early afternoon, by now, I'd imagine. Still, I was almost to the point of exhaustion. I could only imagine how Gon was feeling. I looked over to him, expecting to see him breathing heavily, but he was just staring at me.

"W-what?" I asked.

"When we were climbing," he said, "you were staring at my butt, weren't you?"

I turned a little red and said, "What? Don't be ridiculous, Gon."

"I knew it!" He exclaimed loud enough that the rows close to us looked over. He noticed this and then whispered to me, "So, what'd you think? Was it nice?"

I couldn't believe my ears! I looked away and said, "I… I really don't know what you mean."

"C'mon, Killua" He said, turning his finger on my cheek, "Say it."

"No." I said.

"Say it." He said, still turning his finger.

"I'm not going to say it."

"Say it."

"No."

"C'mon, Killua, just say it this once."

I sighed and said, "Alright." Then I muttered under my breath, "You have a nice ass."

"What was that?" Gon asked playfully.

"You have a nice ass!" I said louder, "There! Are you happy now?"

"Yup!" Gon's whole face was smiling.

Sometimes I really despised his cheerfulness. He was always cheerful, no matter what. I don't think there was a thing that could ever bring him down. I don't think he even knew the feeling of being depressed. It was just one of those things that made Gon, Gon. Just one of those things that made me like him.

He quickly leaned in and pressed his lips on mine, then sat back up just as quickly. I was shocked for the brief instant. I was confused at what had just happened. It happened so fast that my brain had to register it a second longer. I couldn't describe any other feelings as they were all mixed together.

"Thanks," Gon said, "I think your ass is pretty nice, too."

He laughed. I was still shocked that Gon had actually kissed me. He _kissed _me! _On the lips_! I must have looked retarded sitting there, gawking at Gon with my mouth slightly open, but I didn't really care. That is, until I saw Gon look concerned.

"Killua?" Gon asked, "Oh, God. Killua, did I break you?"

I blinked and shook my head. "Huh? Wh-what?"

Gon sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God."

I looked at him in confusion. "What?"

Gon returned my confused look with a smile. "Nothing."

A thought returned to my head suddenly. "So, back when we met Kite," I said, recalling the question Gon had avoided, "What were you going to introduce me as?"

"Huh?" Gon asked, "Oh. It's nothing to concern yourself with, Killua."

He let out a nervous laugh. I swore that someday soon, I'd get him to admit it. I was a little bit mad that he didn't admit it right then. After all, _he_ had kissed _me_. Yet, here he was, unwilling to admit wanting to introduce me as his boyfriend.

_Perhaps it__'__s not the right time_, I thought, _After all, it was only a kiss. It could have meant anything._

I remembered the book we'd taken from Kitakura's. I thought that I'd spend some time trying to read it so I asked Gon to give it to me. It was better than thinking about the kiss the whole time. Gon was looking through his bag and sat up saying he couldn't find the book. I looked at him in disbelief. I knew the book was in there, I had seen it when I was looking for his fishing rod. He suggested that I look for it so I leaned over him and searched through his bag. He leaned down and kissed the back of my neck and sniffed my hair before I sat back up with the book in one hand and the other over the spot where he'd kissed.

"Cut it out, Gon." I said.

"I can't help it, Killua," he said with a smile, "It's just that you smell and taste just like chocolate."

He laughed again and I opened up the book while slumping down in my chair, grumbling. Looking at the book, I found that it, once again, had nothing in it. I flipped through the pages, once gain, not expecting to see anything on them. Sure enough, nothing was on the pages, except for the last one. The last page still contained that small print. I sighed. This book was impossible.

At that moment, one of the flight attendants was walking by. She stopped at our row and asked if we wanted anything. I asked her for some chocolate and Gon asked for a drink of juice. I decided I'd have a drink as well. When she asked if we wanted anything else, I looked at the small print in the book.

"Is there a magnifying glass anywhere?" I asked.

"Yes," she said, "We have a magnifying glass. Would you like to use it?"

"Yes please." I said.

"Certainly." She said and walked away.

I thought that if I had a magnifying glass, then I could read the small print. I had to admit that not being able to read the print had frustrated me to the point where I wanted to rip the book to shreds. However, I restrained myself because I knew the book was our only chance at true happiness. The flight attendant returned with our drinks, my chocolate and the magnifying glass. We thanked her as she walked away again.

I opened up one of my chocolates and put it in my mouth. It had seemed like decades since I'd last tasted the sweetness of chocolate. The texture, the flavour, everything just melted and merged inside my mouth. I was in absolute ecstasy. However, I knew that I had to find out what the small print said so I took the magnifying glass and put it up against the book. The only thing that was written on the book was just one word. One three-letter word.

"Gyo?" I thought out loud.

I closed the book and thought about what Gyo had to do with the Fountain of Youth. Why was it the only thing written in the book? Why was it on the last page? Why was it written so small? I had to find out the answers, so I decided to do a little experiment. I opened the book to the first page and concentrated my Nen into my eyes. I couldn't believe it.

I tugged on Gon's sleeve and said, "Gon, Gon! Look at this!" I pointed to the book.

Gon looked at it and then he looked at me, confused. He said, "I don't see anything, Killua."

"Use Gyo and look!" I instructed.

"Oh!" Gon said, "I see!"

For the next several hours, I read the book. It was written in an old language. Fortunately, I'd studied almost every language known to man practically to death when I was younger, so I knew how to read it. It's just that it was hard to understand at times. That, and it's hard to concentrate when you've got a sensation unlike any other in your mouth and your best friend trying to find ways to trick you so he could kiss you.

Eventually, the chocolate ran out, the sun went down and the tricking stopped. Everybody else on the plane was asleep, including Gon, who had his head on my lap. But I was still awake and I was still reading. My eyes would occasionally wander down from the book to my lap and I saw Gon sleeping as peacefully as if he were using a fluffy pillow. When I saw him, I smiled and then continued reading. Pretty soon, my eyes grew heavy and they closed.

==-==-==-==-x==-==-==-x-==-==-==-==-x-==-==-==x-==-==-==-==

A couple days later, our plane finally landed at Yorknew Airport. I didn't know the exact day that it was, but I knew that it was close to the day we were to meet our friends in this city. I was actually pretty excited to see them again and I knew that Gon was ecstatic. All we had to do was find them. I figured it wouldn't be that hard since we could just call Leorio and Kurapika.

As son as we got off the plane, I felt a pair of eyes watching every move we made. I figured it was just paranoia, as I'd had plenty of encounters with the feeling, so I ignored it. However, the feeling persisted throughout our journey in the airport. I decided to scan around and find out where the eyes were coming from, without letting on that I was doing so, of course. I noticed two men, a taller one and a smaller one, wearing trench coats and hats that looked like they belonged in an old movie or something.

_Those guys really need to get with the times_, I thought.

I noticed one of them flinch when I looked in their direction. It was a slight movement, barely noticeable, but it was enough to make the trench coat guys suspicious to me. If I could get closer without being seen, I could figure out what they were saying. However, the 'not getting seen' part of the was especially difficult. Ultimately, I decided they weren't worth my time.

Gon and I moved on ahead and I noticed the trench coat guys start to follow us. They were starting to get on my nerves. I gradually walked faster and Gon kept up with my pace. I noticed the trench coat guys fall behind. However, I still didn't let up on my pace.

"Killua," Gon said, "why are we walking so fast?"

"I just wanted to meet up with our friends faster, that's all," I lied.

I turned and headed in another direction. Gon pointed out that the doors were in the direction we were headed before and wondered why we were going in this one. I informed him that I needed to take care of some business and he just said 'oh'. I once again felt the eyes on us and saw the trench coat guys a short distance behind us. I thought we had lost them. I wondered how they caught up to us so fast.

I once again gradually began to walk faster and Gon again kept up with my pace. I thought that we could lose the trench coat guys again, but they seemed to be keeping up with out pace pretty well. Gon eventually got curious as to why I was looking back all the time and decided to look back. He looked at me and then back and then to me again.

"Those trench coat guys have been following us, haven't they?" He said.

I nodded. Thankfully, we were at the restroom now. We went in and the trench coat guys didn't follow us. I don't know why they didn't follow us, but I was happy because it meant that I could do my business in peace. After I washed my hands, I took a peek outside of the restroom. When I didn't see the trench coat guys, I called for Gon to follow me out.

We were about five steps out of the restroom when Gon said, "Killu-mmf!"

I turned around to see that Gon was no longer there. I looked around the area but didn't see any trace of him. I wondered what had happened to him, when I heard a scream. It wasn't the scream of a woman, it was the scream of a man. The sound that I was most familiar with. It was the scream of a man in pain.


	10. Reunion

Chapter 9: Reunion

I ran towards the sound and found one of the trench coat guys on the ground, holding his hand. The way he was holding it, I knew that Gon had bit it. I looked around the man on the ground for signs of Gon, but I saw none. I once again looked at the man on the ground. I was pissed at him for taking my best friend, but I only allowed my eyes to show it. I crouched down beside him so he could see my eyes.

"Hey," I said in an icy tone, "Where is he?"

The man was wearing sunglasses, but I could tell that his eyes were wide in terror. His lips were quivering. His whole body was shaking. I thought back to my assassin days and how often I saw people in this state of pure terror. Back then, it both bored and excited me to see them this way, but now, it just bored me. I decided to ask again, this time with a little incentive.

I transformed my hand into a claw and put it up against his throat. "Where is he?"

"I-I-I-I" the man began, terrified, "I don't know. He bit my hand and ran off somewhere. M-my partner probably has him now."

I stood up and the man heaved a sigh of relief that I wasn't going to kill him. I looked around for the other trench coat guy. I didn't see any trace of him. I did, however, hear him scream in pain. I assumed that it wasn't Gon that had made the man scream in pain, as I figured he had seen what happened to his partner and had take measures to prevent that from happening to him. After the man screamed, I heard his voice coming from the direction of the doors of the airport.

"You bastard!' He yelled, "Watch were you're going!"

I ran towards the doors just in time to see Kurapika, the _real_ Kurapika, punch the man in the stomach. The man dropped Gon and I ran in to grab him. I picked him up off of the floor and stopped by Kurapika's side. Before Kurapika could make another move, the man started to turn around to run away. However, Kurapika tripped him and the man fell flat on his face. I could tell that Kurapika was pissed. Almost as much as I was.

I noticed Gon had a gag in his mouth and his hands were tied together. I was amazed that one man could have done that to Gon, who was probably fighting the whole time, and in such a short amount of time. I let Gon stand up and untied his hands. When I untied the piece of cloth used as a gag, Gon leaned in to kiss me. I put a hand over his mouth and whispered in his ear.

"Not now, Gon," I said, "There're people staring at us."

It was true. Most of the people in the area of the airport had stopped and looked when the man in the trench coat had yelled at Kurapika. Even Kurapika was staring at us. I thought he had noticed a slight change in Gon's behaviour towards me, but thankfully, he asked something different. He wondered why the trench coat guy was kidnapping Gon. When I told him I didn't know, his attention turned to the man on the ground. He turned the man over only to find out that he was unconscious. He cursed and said we'd have to wait. I told him of the other trench coat guy that was only a few steps away from us and we were about to go over there when we saw him being carried by somebody we recognized.

"Hey," Leorio said, "Kurapika! Gon! Killua! Glad you cold make it!" He noticed we were staring at the man we had over his shoulder and said, "Oh, him? He bumped into me and I thought he looked a little suspicious. So, I decided to ask him politely what he was doing."

When Leorio said 'ask him politely', I figured he meant he punched the guy in the face for bumping into him. Turns out, I was right. When he noticed the other trench coat guy on the ground, Leorio tossed the man he was carrying onto the other guy. Then the cops showed up and arrested the two men in trench coats. We all turned our attention to the fact that we were reunited again.

As we walked out of the airport, Kurapika told us that his bodyguard job was going to be over soon and that he'd use the money he earned to go searching for the eyes of his clan. He wasn't sure what he would do after that. Leorio said that he was on his way to becoming a famous doctor. He told us that this conference he was going to would help him get his degree because he was speaking at it and many famous doctors were going to be there to hear him. When asked what we did, Gon told of how he had beaten Greed Island and how a name he thought to be an acronym of Ging, had turned out to be Kite. He didn't say anything of Natsuki, the Kite impostor, Kitakura or the impostors of Leorio and Kurapika. When he was asked what we were going to after this, he was going to say how we were going to find the Fountain of Youth, but I nudged him and he quickly replaced it with 'finding Ging'.

While we were walking, a police officer ran up behind us and called out to get our attention. He wanted to ask us questions about what happened at the airport. He said that the people at the airport had told him that the trench coat guys were trying to kidnap Gon. He wanted to know why. We said that we didn't know why and he then asked if we had seen them before. We said we hadn't and the officer told us we could go.

After about an hour of walking, we finally made it to a hotel. It was the hotel where Leorio's conference was being held. The lobby was huge. It had a crystal chandelier hanging from a very high ceiling, marble pillars, and an intricate design of floor tiles. I assumed they were just coloured laminate or something like that because the tiles were gold and silver and no hotel ever had real gold and silver floor tiles. We walked up to the counter and Leorio said he was part of the conference. The lady behind the counter informed him of his room: a regular two queen-size bed with internet access.

Leorio looked me and then at Gon and said, "You two probably want your own room, don't you?"

"Why do you think that?" I asked.

"Well," he began, "It's just that with two beds, two people will have to share a bed."

"Uh-huh." I said disbelieving, but decided not to press it, "Yeah, OK. We'll have a room."

"Great," he said a little too enthusiastically and turned back to the lady, "I'd like to get another room, please." He leaned in close to her and whispered, "With only one bed, though."

He looked back and noticed my quizzical stare. He knew that I heard him get a room with only one bed for me and Gon. He winked at me and I looked away, pretending to admire the decorations and paintings on the walls. In truth, they really were something to be admired. The decorations had complex designs on them and the paintings looked like there could have been real people standing there. That is, if it weren't for the frames around them and the fact that they were hanging from the walls.

Leorio turned around and handed me a key card envelope saying, "Here you go. Your room is on the third floor, room 302. The conference has me staying in room 206, so our rooms won't be close to each other."

I didn't really mind that much. I couldn't speak for Gon, however, because I knew he was looking forward to spending time with his friends. I looked over to him to see his reaction to the news that we'd be on different floors, and to my surprise he was perfectly okay with that. I almost felt like asking him what he'd done with the real Gon, but said nothing. We all walked to the elevator and rode it up. On the second floor, Leorio and Kurapika got out and Leorio stopped and turned.

"Oh, I almost forgot," he said, "The conference starts at-" He was cut off by the door closing.

As soon as the door was closed, Gon turned to me and said, "Hey, Killua."

"Yea-" I started, turning my head, but was cut off by his lips touching mine.

It was only a few seconds, but it felt more like a minute. The elevator dinged and I broke the kiss by pushing Gon away. The doors opened and we walked out to find Leorio standing to the side. Well, actually he was bent over, with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. It was like right after the elevator door closed on the last floor, he ran to the staircase and up the flight of stairs just to catch us getting off.

"I almost," he said through deep breaths, "forgot. To tell you. The conference. Starts. At 8. Tonight."

Gon and I looked at each other, deciding which one of us would break the news to him. It was decided that I should so I told him, "Uh, Leorio, you could have just phoned our room."

A look of embarrassed realization crossed his face and he said, "Oh." He then stood up straight and continued, "Well, I just wanted to make sure you guys knew that. So, I'll see you around ten to eight, alright?"

"Alright," I said indifferently.

Leorio was walking back to the stairs when I pointed out the elevator. He said that he needed exercise so he was taking the stairs. I thought he was just taking the stairs to grumble to himself about how stupid he was, but I guess the way he said it sounded better. After Leorio left, Gon and I walked into our room. After I locked the door, out of impulse, I asked Gon what he wanted to do with the remaining hours before the conference.

"I want to kiss." Gon said in a way that made me blush.

Ever since he first kissed me on the plane, I hadn't given him much time. It was partly because I was a little embarrassed to kiss him in public, but also because I was a little unsure if it was a good thing. Since the first kiss, I'd buried myself in the book, only stopping to eat and get off the plane. Then we were in a crowded area and continuously moving. The only time we were alone after that was in the elevator and that was only for a few seconds.

"Um, Gon," I said as I walked towards the bed, where Gon was sitting. I wasn't sure where my thoughts would take me so I decided to just go from the top of my head, "about that…" He looked at me intently. "Um, do you think it's a good thing to kiss?"

"Huh?" Gon said, confused.

"What I mean is," I explained, "Do you think it's right for us to kiss? I mean, we're both boys and-"

"Of course I think it's right!" Gon exclaimed, cutting me off, "It's because I love you, Killua. And Aunt Mito said, 'when you really love somebody, then everything you do with them is right.' And I really, _really_ love you."

"I…" I was at a loss for words. Nobody had ever said anything like that to me before. I felt something on my cheek and wiped it off to look at it. It was a tear. I didn't know why, but I was crying. It was strange. I tried to speak again, "I…" I couldn't.

Gon pressed his lips to mine for a brief instant and then said, "You don't have to say anything, Killua. I know how you feel. And the way I feel when I kiss you, it's just… It feels like I'm in a different world, where there's only us."

More tears started to roll down my face and all I managed to say was "Gon."

This time, my lips voluntarily touched his and we shared the longest kiss we ever had until that time. As we kissed, I thought about Gon's words. He'd said that it felt like a different world where it was only us. I'd never admit it to his face, but he was right. I couldn't even feel the bed anymore. Then something made me break the kiss. I pushed Gon away.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, "Was that your tongue?"

Gon nodded, "Yup!"

"Where the hell did you learn to kiss like that?"

"Hisoka."

"_What!?_"

"Oh! No!" Gon realized how that sounded and quickly rephrased it after, "Ugh. God no!" He put his finger in his mouth and mocked a vomit sound. "What I meant was that Hisoka told me that if you really love somebody, then putting your tongue in their mouth when you're kissing is the best way to show it."

"Really?" I said, disbelieving.

"Mm-hm." Gon said.

"And you trust Hisoka to give you love advise? And just when the hell did he tell you that? I was with you practically every waking moment of every day since we left my house more than a year ago. So, if he told you something, I should have been around to hear it."

"Well," Gon said putting a finger to the side of his face, thinking, "I think it was sometime during Greed Island. After our volleyball match with Razor. Is there something wrong with taking love advise from Hisoka?"

I would have hit him on the head for his last question, but it wouldn't be punishment enough for how stupid the question was. Instead, I said, "I'm done."

"What?" Gon asked.

"I'm done kissing you," I said, "I'm not going to kiss you any more tonight. I'm having a shower and then I'm getting ready for the conference."

"But we still have at least three hours to spare," Gon said.

I got up off the bed and walked toward the bathroom while saying, "Then I'll read for three hours after I'm done getting ready."

I was about to open the bathroom door, when there was a knock on the room door. I was a bit cautious as I approached it, not knowing who was out there. I tried to jump to look through the eye hole, but it was too high up. I told Gon to give me a boost and he said he'd do it if I promised to kiss him after.

I sighed and said, "Alright. One quick kiss." I held up a finger. "Now get over here and give me a boost."

He ran over to the door and got on his hands and knees. I stepped on his back, but it was still too high, so I told him to lift up a bit more. The person at the door knocked again. When I was high enough to see through the eye hole, I told Gon to stop. He was on his fingers and toes. I looked through the eye hole and saw a man with two tailored suits that looked like they would fit children.

"Killua…" Gon said, straining to keep his voice even, "Can't… hold it… much longer…"

"Just a little more, Gon," I encouraged, "I can almost see a face."

Before I could see the man's face, Gon gave way and I fell on top of him. The man at the door knocked a third time. We got up and I unlocked the door, opening it part way. The man at the door seemed like he was in his mid-twenties, with a beard just starting to grow. He wore one of those outfits you saw in the movies worn by the workers at the hotel that take your luggage to your room, except it was black. What were they called, bellhops.

"Yeah?" I said cautiously.

"Ah, Mr. Killua?" the bellhop asked in a kind tone.

"Yeah." I said in the same tone as when I greeted the man.

"A Mr. Leorio asked that the hotel deliver these tailored suits to you," he said.

I opened the door all the way and said, "Thanks."

I took the suits and gave them to Gon. I was about to close the door, when the bellhop cleared his throat. Ah, right. Whenever you had the bellhops do something for you, you usually gave them a tip. I told the bellhop I'd be a second and went to the bed to open my backpack. I took out a bill and walked back to the door to give it to the bellhop. Using cards was nice for big stuff, like chocolate, but it helped to carry some bills around, too. The bellhop left and I closed the door and turned around to see Gon almost right up in my face.

"What?" I said.

"You remember your promise?" Gon asked, puckering his lips.

I sighed and put my lips against his for a few seconds. It was longer than what I had originally intended, but whenever I kissed Gon, it was like he just pulled me in. I had to remember that I was punishing him for asking a stupid question and broke the kiss. I then took one of the suits into the bathroom to have my shower.

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A/N: As the next chapter is goingto be the "official" chapter 10, I'm going to be doing a sort of "comment special". If you have any questions (about me, about the Redux, about the stories I write), then ask them in a review and I'll answer them at the begining of the next chapter in an Author's Note.  
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	11. Whatfriends?

Chapter 10: Whatfriends?

Gon kept trying to enter the bathroom while I showered. It was slightly annoying that I had to tell him to leave every time, but whenever I heard the door open, a sudden calmness swept over me. I didn't know why I felt that way. I mean, Gon often tried to enter the bathroom while I was showering before we kissed and there wasn't any calmness then. I wondered if it was because I wanted to have his lips against mine so bad.

_Heh. And here I thought I was punishing _Gon_,_ I thought.

I turned the water off and got out of the shower. Gon tried to sneak in, but I threw a bar of soap at him. I let out a small laugh as he whimpered and closed the door. I was almost tempted to say 'good boy' or 'good dog', knowing Gon would most likely be listening with an ear pressed to the door, but I didn't. Instead, I just put on the suit that was tailored for me.

Sometimes I wondered about how Leorio got his information. I'd never told anybody what my body dimensions were but he had this suit custom made to fit me. I didn't think on that too long, however, as I caught a glimpse of myself in the full body mirror after I had gotten my suit on. Now, I'm not really a narcissistic person, but even I had to admit that I looked pretty damn good. I couldn't wait to show Gon, knowing he'd be impressed by how good I looked.

I opened the door to the bathroom and found Gon, surprisingly, laying on the bed, reading the book on the Fountain of Youth. I tried to get his attention, but he was concentrating on the book. I called his name, I waved my hands over my head, I walked over to the bed and called his name, I poked him, I even waved my hand in front of his face, but he still didn't answer me. I was just a little upset at this. Okay, I was more than a little upset, but who can blame me? Here I was trying to show off how good I looked in my tailor-made suit and he was just reading up on something that would help us spend the rest of eternity together!

"I need some chocolate," I said. I climbed onto the bed from the foot and crawled over so I was on top of Gon and pushed the book down so we were face to face and said, "This is very important: Do not open the door all the way for anybody except for me. You understand?"

Gon nodded.

I continued, "I'll give a special knock," I knocked on the backboard once and then three times fast, "so you'll know it's safe. Alright?"

Again, Gon nodded. He leaned in to kiss me, but I did a roll to get off the bed. After straightening my suit, I walked over to the door and unlocked it. I opened the door and left Gon alone in the room. I walked to the elevator and went down to the first floor, where the hotel store was. I had to resist the urge to buy all the chocolate in the store, which was very hard. Instead of buying the whole store, I only bought ten bars. The one running the store put them in a bag and I went back to the room.

Just outside of the room, I saw Leorio and Kurapika arguing with Gon, who had the door open part way. Well, it was more Leorio arguing and Kurapika trying to calm him down. I took one of my chocolate bars out of the bag and unwrapped it as I walked toward the room nonchalantly. As I got closer, I noticed that Leorio and Kurapika were wearing the same type of suit I was, all tailor-made. I looked better in it, though.

"Oi, Killua," Leorio yelled at me when he saw me, "What's the big idea, telling Gon not to open the door for his friends?"

I took a bite of my chocolate and said, "It's for Gon's own safety."

"What the hell does that mean?" Leorio shouted, "Are you saying he's not safe with his friends?"

"Well, we've recently had a few problems," I said. I was standing in front of the door now, facing Leorio and Kurapika. "I'll tell you about it later, but first, I'm gonna have to ask you a question," I turned to Gon, "Gon, close the door. I'll knock when I'm finished."

"Okay," Gon said as he closed the door.

"I'm going to ask you a question first, Leorio," I said turning to the black haired man, "How long have Gon and I been friends? How did you invite us to the conference? And What did you whisper to the lady at the front desk?"

"Killua," Gon's voice came from behind me, "That was three questions."

I turned around and shouted, "Goddammit, Gon! I swear to God as soon as I get in there, I am going to punch you so hard, you're bound to lose a few brain cells! And I thought I told you to keep the door closed!"

The door closed and I turned around to face Leorio again. He spoke, "Well, I'm pretty sure Gon has considered you a friend ever since you two met at the Hunter Exam. I sent an email to you, Gon and Kurapika inviting all of you to the conference. And I told the lady to give you and Gon a room with one bed."

"And what else?" I asked.

Leorio answered, "And I asked her out on a date."

"And?" I prodded.

"And she turned me down," Leorio said. Kurapika looked at him as if to say 'Really? Again?' and Leorio said defensively, "I didn't know she was already married! So young, too."

I turned to Kurapika and said, "Now it's your turn." He nodded and I said, "When we were here last, what did we want you to do?"

"You all wanted me to use my Judgment Chain on you," He said.

"Why?" I asked.

"So if you were ever caught by the Phantom Troupe," he explained, "you wouldn't give out any of my secrets."

"And did you?" I continued.

"No," he said, "I never planned on using it on you."

"Are we done playing 20 Questions now?" Leorio asked, "Can we go in? I brought something to celebrate with."

He held up a bottle of sparkling grape juice and Kurapka held up some plastic cups. Satisfied that these were our friends, I knocked on the door once and then three times fast. Gon opened the door all the way. I walked in and hit him on the head, making good on my promise. He just laughed as I walked to the bed, taking another bite of my chocolate.

After Leorio and Kurapika were in, Gon closed the door. I sat down on the bed and Gon sat beside me. Leorio and Kurapika repositioned the couch so it was facing the bed and the table to be in between the couch and the bed. Leorio put the bottle on the table and opened it while Kurapika placed each plastic cup on the table beside the bottle. After Leorio had poured the juice into each cup and gave one cup to each person, he sat down and asked us what happened with us.

I knew I couldn't lie to them, so I told them the truth. I told them about how we had met up with Kite, the one that told Gon about his father, and how he fought off some creatures. I explained about our incident at the library and the NAZI Task Force and how an Air-Zinger was a type of flying machine. I told them about Natsuki, his dogs and the guy that looked like Kite. I told them about Kitakura and how he was going to use us as part of a youth potion. Then I told them about their impostors, the people that looked and sounded exactly like them, with only slight differences.

"I think that those trench coat guys were the impostors," I finished, "but I still don't know what they wanted from us or who had sent them."

Kurapika and Leorio were silent. They didn't know that I had left out our plans of finding the Fountain of Youth. I didn't really feel like it was necessary that they should know, either. That was just between me and Gon. The silence lasted for about half a minute. I went to take a drink of my juice.

"And now we're boyfriends!" Gon exclaimed happily.

I choked on my juice. Kurapika and Leorio just stared. I'd wanted him to admit to almost introducing me as his boyfriend, but I wasn't expecting him to flat out say it in front of our friends! Sometime during my choking fit, I'd put my cup on the table. Gon was confused at the looks Leorio and Kurapika were giving.

When I was just about over my fit, I yelled, "What the hell, Gon!?"

Gon was more confused now and said, "What?"

"What do you mean 'what'?" I said, "Since when in the hell did you decide to bump our relationship up to the next level? That's 'what'!"

"When you kissed me," Gon said, "after I told you that I loved you."

My face was as red as red could be. Not only had Gon just randomly decide to admit I was his boyfriend, but he also admitted that we had kissed. And in front of our friends, no less! Did I mention that he had just totally ruined the mood I had set up just half a minute before? Because that totally happened.

I was about to punch Gon on the head, but something made me stop. A sound I hadn't expected to hear. A sound coming from the people sitting right across from us. A happy sound. The sound of laughter. Leorio and Kurapika were laughing. I looked at them in confusion.

Leorio was the first to speak. Through his laughter he said, "It's about time you two hooked up."

"Leorio," Kurapika said, still laughing, "You owe me 200 Jenny."

I felt just as confused as Gon had after I yelled at him. I wanted to know if some big prank was being pulled on me. That's what it felt like. It felt like everybody was in on this huge prank except for me. Money passed between Leorio and Kurapika.

"Uh, guys," I said, "If you don't mind, would you tell me what the hell is going on?"

Their laughter died down enough so that they could speak properly. Leorio was the one that explained, "Before we came up here, we made a bet on whether or not you two had hooked up. I said you didn't but Kurapika said you did because, uh, what was the reason?"

"I saw the way you two acted at the airport," Kurapika said, "It was obvious that something happened between you two."

"Right," Leorio agreed, "And so we bet 100 Jenny. We bet another 100 Jenny to see if you two had kissed yet. Obviously, I said that you didn't but Kurapika, with the perverted mind that he has, said you did."

"Oh, I'm the pervert?" Kurapika asked defensively, "Weren't you the one that kept trying to come into the bathroom while I was showering?"

"I merely wanted to know what was taking you so long," Leorio said, "We only have one shower in our room and I needed to use it, too."

The room went silent again. A lot of thoughts were going through my mind. Thought like how Leorio and Kurapika had expected Gon and I to 'hook up'. I began to wonder how long Gon had wanted to 'hook up', what with him almost introducing me and then proclaiming me as his boyfriend. Then I began to wonder how long I had wanted to 'hook up' with Gon. That was the hardest question to answer.

"I have a theory," Kurapika said out of nowhere, "about what those two men wearing trench coats had wanted."

We all stared at him. He explained that his theory might have been completely wrong or only half right. His theory was that guy that looked like Kite had seen us and knows who we are now. So, he found somebody that knew our past and hired the trench coat guys to kidnap us. They would then either get rid of us or take us to the Kite impostor so he could do it himself.

The theory wasn't bad, and it could most certainly be very true. If this guy had the resources, he could find out everything about us. He could find out about the friends we made during the Hunter Exam. He could find out about our families. He could even find out where we lived. A sudden thought struck me.

"Gon," I said, "Call your Aunt."

Gon looked at me and said, "But I just sent her a letter not too long ago."

"Just call your Aunt Mito, dammit!" My voice was desperate. I started chewing on my thumbnail, as I do when I get nervous.

"Okay," Gon said uneasy. He went to the hotel phone and told the front desk, "I want to make a long distance call." He paused and said, "Whale Island." Another pause, "Mito Freecss," Another pause, "Thank you."

"Killua," Leorio said, "What are you thinking?"

I explained everything while Gon's call was being connected. The only face that wasn't filled with shock was Kurapika's. It was almost as if he had thought of everything I had just thought of. I could tell Gon's call was connected because of the change in tone from when he had talked to the front desk.

"Aunt Mito!" He said, bringing his free hand to the bottom of the phone. "You need to listen." I mouthed him the words that he should say, "If someone named Kite comes to the house, don't let him in." He mouthed the words that his Aunt said to him, 'Why not?' I mouthed the words back which he spoke into the phone, "Because it isn't really Kite. It's an impostor that wants to hurt you." He mouthed back, 'Why does he want to do that?' I mouthed to him, "To get to me and Killua. There's no time to explain everything."

Gon nodded his approval, which probably meant that his Aunt had agreed to what Gon had just said. He said his goodbyes and hung the phone up. I was probably just as relieved as Gon was to hear that his Aunt was safe. After all, she was the first person, besides Gon, to treat me with real affection. I didn't have to worry about my family, since they were all trained assassins.

"Well," Leorio said, trying to brighten up the mood, "Let's have a party, shall we?"

I looked at the clock and noticed that it said 7:00. I pointed this out to Leorio, who swore and then said that he still needed to do his hair and be at the meeting hall at 7:30. He then ran out of the room and everybody laughed. Kurapika stayed for a few more minutes to finish his juice and then excused himself saying he needed to do a few more things to be ready, too. Then it was just me and Gon in the room.

I leaned up against the backboard of the bed and said, "So, Gon, are you gonna have a shower?"

Gon looked at me slyly and said, "Why do you want to know? Are you gonna try and take a peek at me?"

I just about choked on my own saliva and blushed a little bit. "No!" I said, "I was just wondering. That's all."

Gon chuckled and said, "It's alright, Killua. I don't mind if you look at me in the shower. It's not like you haven't seen me naked before."

It was true. Back on Whale Island, we had bathed together. So, why was it that I was blushing now? Could it have been because we were considered 'boyfriends' now? Gon leaned in and kissed me. I kissed him back but then I felt his tongue in my mouth again.

I pushed him away and said, "Stop doing that! That's gross!"

He rolled off the bed and onto the floor with an "oof". I leaned over the bed to see if he was alright. I should have known that he was; that it'd take a lot more than a simple fall to hurt Gon. He was laying on his back, laughing. I sighed.

"Look, Gon," I said, "Just because we're boyfriends now, it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want to me. Now get up and have a shower. I want to meet Leorio at ten to. That's in," I look at the clock, "thirty minutes. Half an hour. So, I want to leave the room in twenty-five minutes. Can you do that?"

Gon nodded as he sat up. He got to his feet and went into the bathroom, taking his tailor-made suit with him. A few seconds later, I heard the water running and I reached under Gon's pillow for the book, knowing he wouldn't have any other place to hide it. I opened it and started reading with Gyo. I didn't know how Gon was able to read it earlier because I could barely understand it.

I was deep in my reading that I didn't hear the water in the bathroom turn off. The next thing I heard after the water had turned on was the bathroom door opening. Gon walked out, dripping wet and butt naked. I looked at him and immediately averted my gaze back to the book. I was cursing in head.

"Killua," he said, "There aren't any more towels in there."

"What?" I said, closing the book.

I got up and walked to the bathroom to make sure his allegations were correct. I tried my best not to look at his naked figure. In the bathroom, I noticed the towels. One was on the floor in a ball under the sink counter, the one I had used; one was hanging on the bar, for drying your hands; one was on the floor spread out, so you didn't slip on the floor; and the last one was folded neatly on the shelf above the bar.

"What do you mean," I said, "'there aren't any more towels'? There's one right-"

I pointed to the shelf above the bar. I heard the bathroom door close behind me. I felt stupid. I had fallen for Gon's obvious trap. I turned around to look at him and finish my previous sentence before moving on to a different one. But before I could get a word out, Gon leaned into me with his wet, naked body almost touching my fully clothed body and pressed his lips against mine. I fell back and sat down on the toilet, being thankful that the lid was down, while Gon's tongue invaded my mouth. His whole body was now pressed right up against mine.

I tried to push him away, but he held my arms down. I felt as powerless as when I was facing Illumi, but thankfully, not as terrified. I had no choice but to let the invading tongue explore the new domain, as if it were conquering previously unconquerable territory. I figured this was Gon's way of getting me to like something he did. I felt Gon's grip loosen after a few minutes and took the opportunity to free my arms and push him away. A small trail of saliva fell from my bottom lip onto my chin as Gon's mouth was forcefully removed from my own.

"Dammit Gon," I said, wiping the saliva away with my hand, "I told you I didn't like it when you put your tongue in my mouth. And now my suit is all wet." I reached above my head and grabbed the remaining towel, which I then threw at Gon. "Now dry what's left to dry off, get dressed and let's go."

I got up off the toilet, walked toward the door to the bathroom and stomped outside, all the while cursing and swearing. I wanted to slam the bathroom door, too, but the hinges wouldn't allow me. I had to think of some way to dry my suit off before we left. The only way I could think of was with the blow dryer in the bathroom. However, I didn't want to go back in there while Gon was still in there, so I just stood outside the door, waiting.

When the door opened, Gon was fully dressed in his custom tailor-made suit. I had to admit that he looked pretty hot in it, but I was too pissed at him to tell him that. And besides, he still didn't look as good as me. Gon walked out of the bathroom with a sad look on his face. There were two things I couldn't stand about Gon: The eyes and his sad faces. If I had to take a guess at which one was worse, I'd say his sad faces because they literally just tore your heart right out of your chest and chopped it up before putting it back in.

"Killua," he said in that sad tone of his that he always used when he used that face, "I did a lot of thinking in there and I'm sorry."

"For what?" I tried to act like I was still mad at him, even gong so far as to cross my arms.

"For doing something you didn't like," he said.

"There are a lot of things you do that I don't like, Gon," I said, "So, which one are you sorry for?"

He sighed, knowing I wouldn't just accept his apology, "For putting my tongue in your mouth. It's just that I wanted to try something different and that plain old kissing wasn't good enough for you. I thought you deserved something better and putting my tongue in your mouth was the only thing I could think of." He bowed and finished, "I'm really sorry."

I walked up to him and hit him on the head. He knew it was my way of forgiving him. I then walked past him and closed the door to the bathroom. I took the blow dryer and started to dry my clothes off. I didn't get my suit completely dry, but it was at least bearable and not so obvious now. I walked out of the bathroom and found Gon sitting on the bed. I told him it was time to go and we left the room and walked to the elevator hand in hand.

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A/N: Since I didn't receive any questions last chapter, I didn't put any answers up at the beginning of the chapter. But, ten more chapters and I'll be doing it again. So, if you think of any questions, Chapter 19 will be the place to ask them. Also, OMIGOSH A HINT OF LEOPIKA! I am going to stop reading this story because you hinted at another Hunter X Hunter pairing that people like that's not the one you're writing about. ... Yeah, that sounded stupid in my head, too.  
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	12. The Fight

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A/N: I just want to apologize for this chapter coming before the new "Killua's World" chapter. It's just that after the last chapter, I just couldn't bring myself to write Killua without Gon. So, I'm sorry. However, I think these last two chapters have been my best. *shivers* Goosebumps. Heh-heh.  
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Chapter 11: The Fight

We got off on the first floor and walked to the lobby. There, we saw Kurapika standing alone. I figured Leorio would have been with him, stressing out about where Gon and I could have been. But he wasn't there. We walked up to Kurapika who had only noticed us when we said hi.

"Oh." He said startled, "Gon. Killua. I didn't notice you."

_No duh_, I thought then said, "Where's Leorio?"

"I don't know," Kurapika said, "He was supposed to be here a few minutes ago." He looked at his watch, "I don't know if we can go to the conference without him because I don't know where it is."

Gon suggested we split up and look for him. It would have been a good plan if he hadn't suggested Kurapika look in one direction and him and I search another direction. I hit him on the head accusing him of just wanting to kiss me some more, because I wouldn't let him kiss me in public. He just giggled at this and that's how I knew my accusations were right.

"God, Gon," I said, "You're impossible. Why not think of something _other_ than satisfying your cravings for once?"

"I think of other things sometimes," Gon defended.

"Name one thing you think about that isn't just you satisfying your cravings," I challenged.

"Well," Gon thought, "I think about food."

"Craving."

"Um…Killua?"

"Craving."

"Uh…" He trailed off and slumped his head in defeat.

I wore a victorious grin for a second before Kurapika chimed in, "Boys, we need to be serious about this. For all we know Leorio could be in grave danger."

Just then, Leorio came through the hotel doors. He was running and obviously out of breath. I pointed him out to the others and Kurapka gave a sigh of relief. Leorio ran right past us when Kurapika called his name. He stopped and turned around to face us.

"Oh. There you are," he said. He stood up straight and put a hand behind his head. "Sorry I'm late. The meeting on how the conference was going to run went a little over time. And I had to find a new cab, because the other guy had left even after I told him to stay! It was like he didn't understand what stay meant."

Leorio went off on one of his tangents. He always did that when something upset him. I rolled my eyes. Kurapika cleared his throat and Leorio stopped. He then led us outside to a waiting cab.

The cab took us to a building that I assumed was where this conference was being held. The outside wasn't very big; it just looked like a meeting house or something like that. The inside wasn't much bigger. I couldn't tell exactly what it looked like because there were round tables, each with white tablecloths and flower vases, spread around the room. There must have been about twenty tables.

Leorio had led us to our table as other people were finding their own tables. I took a quick look around the room, as my suspicious nature often forces me to do, to see if there were any signs of a threat. I didn't see any immediate threats at first, but as I looked around the room a second time, when almost everybody was seated, I noticed a familiar face. It was a face I had hoped never to have seen again. A long, hairy face that resembled a dog's or, probably more accurately, a wolf's.

I elbowed Gon lightly and whispered to him, "Kitakura."

Gon whipped his head to look at me. His eyes were a mix between shock and 'Are you joking?'. Having noticed my head tilt slightly in the direction I saw Kitakura, he looked and immediately looked back at me. His eyes were bouncing around in fear. He looked into my eyes and, seeing how calm they were, he immediately regained his composure.

"What's he doing here?" Gon asked.

"How should I know?" I replied.

"Should we do something?"

"Not now. He wouldn't try anything in this crowded room. We'll wait until after the conference is over."

Gon nodded. The house lights went out and a spotlight that was focused on the stage came on. A man came out from behind the curtain and introduced himself as Dr. Nathan Jules, the MC for the night. The doctor tried to tell some jokes, but he wasn't very good at them. Most of them were either lame or ones I'd heard a billion times. And even the ones I'd heard a billion times were lame.

After he felt that the crowd was 'warmed up', he introduced the first speaker of the night. It was a woman named Dr. Joy Hartfelt. I wondered what these people were going to talk about, as I'd never been to one of these conferences before. As the woman was talking, she used a lot of technical terms that I didn't really understand. I looked at Gon, who looked like his brain was about to explode, but he didn't show it. He just sat there pretending to listen.

Sometime during her talk, I had fallen asleep. I wasn't sure when it happened or why it happened. I could only speculate that all the technical terms she used and the way her voice sounded had been a couple factors. I wasn't sure how many speakers I was asleep through but it didn't really matter because Gon elbowed me when Leorio's name was called.

Leorio went up to the stage. He took some folded papers out of the inside pocket of his suit, unfolded them and started reading. He was doing pretty badly at first, as expected, but I noticed him look in Kurapika's direction and suddenly, he gained new confidence. I was beginning to wonder if anything had happened between _them_.

Leorio talked about his reasoning to becoming a doctor. He said that he took the Hunter Exam to get money. He told about his studies at the school he went to. He also said how the studies and the tests gave him 'a better understanding' of medicine and how to treat patients. I found myself nodding off and catching myself nodding off.

After Leorio's talk, everyone applauded, and the MC got up and said, "Thank you, Dr. Paladinight and everyone that has spoken. Our final speaker of the night will be Dr. John Kitakura."

I froze. Kitakura was considered a doctor? It didn't make sense. He wasn't a doctor. He couldn't have been a doctor. There was just no way. Everybody except for me applauded him, even Gon. I wanted to hit him on the head for doing so, but I restrained myself.

"Thank you," Kitakura said in a voice reminiscent of the one he had on the day after we met him, "As most of you are well aware of, my wife has been sick the past few years with some unknown disease. I made it my life's work to find the origins of this strange disease and to cure my wife of it."

I slammed my hands on the table as I stood up and yelled, "This is bullshit!" Everybody stared at me, but I continued, "This man isn't a doctor! He's a monster!"

Kitakura stared at me, to my surprise, with wide shocked eyes, like he didn't know what I was talking about. He said, "Young man, I'm sorry, but you must hae me confused for somebody else."

The oldest trick in the book: feigning ignorance. I continued, "Look at his face! No man's face is that hairy or that long! He lives in an abandoned town; abandoned by its residents because of monsters like him! He tried to use me and my best friend in a youth potion!"

Kitakura chuckled, "A youth potion? Young man, I am a man of science. I have no need for potions or magic."

"That's a lie and you know it!" I yelled, "You tried to use Gon and I in a youth potion! You gave us a list for it the day we left." I turned to Gon and said, "Gon, help me out here."

Gon did nothing but look away from me. I turned to Leorio and Kurapika saying the speaker was the one I told them about, but they also looked away. I was in shock. I felt two arms grab mine and pull me away. I struggled, cursing and swearing, the whole way to the door until I was thrown out.

I landed on my butt outside and watched as the two men that ejected me closed the doors again. I got up and swore at the building, taking my bow tie off and throwing it in the process. I then called for a cab to come. I got in and told the driver to take me to the hotel I was staying at.

The driver looked in the rear-view mirror at me and said, "You look miserable, kid."

"What's it to you?" I asked in a sour tone.

"Well, it ain't really my business to pry, but I know that when I see a kid miserable, I wanna try and cheer them up." The cabbie said.

"Forget it," I said, "I don't need cheering up."

"Alright, kid," the cabbie said, "but you can't say I didn't try."

The rest of the way was silence. I lied when I had said that I didn't need cheering up. The truth was that I couldn't have been cheered up by anybody. I wanted to stay miserable for the rest of the night. The cab pulled up to the hotel and I paid the cabbie for the ride.

I walked into the hotel and to my room slowly. Nobody disturbed me on my way, which was a good thing since I probably would have snapped at the first person to come in contact with me. In the room, I noticed the two pillows on the bed and the couch still facing the bed. The first thing I did was turn the couch around so it was facing the opposite way. Then I took Gon's pillow and threw it on the couch. I took off my suit and just left it laying on the floor, not bothering to place it neatly. I was about to climb into bed, but I looked at the couch with just the pillow. I sighed and picked up the hotel phone and called the front desk.

"I'd like another blanket, please," I spoke into the phone once I heard a voice on the other end.

The voice said, "Yes sir, it'll be right up."

"Thank you," I said. There was no meaning in my words.

A minute later, there was a knock on the door. I asked who it was through the door and the voice on the other end said they had the blanket I ordered. I opened the door part way, standing behind it because I was in my underwear, and told the person to just throw the blanket in the room. They did so and I closed the door, not caring if they wanted a tip or not. I threw the blanket onto the couch and then I climbed into bed.

I looked at the clock. It was 10:30. I figured the conference would be done for the night soon. I laid in bed for a little while just staring at the ceiling. When I finally closed my eyes, I heard the door open. I knew Gon had just walked in.

"Killua?" He asked, obviously seeing the pillow and blanket on the couch, "Can I sleep next to-"

I cut him off and said, "No room."

"What?" He asked, "What do you mean 'no room'? There's plenty of room on the-"

I cut him off again. I sat up and shouted, "I said there's no fucking room on the fucking bed!" I pointed over to the couch. "Now go sleep on the fucking couch!"

"What the hell is wrong with you, Killua?" Gon yelled.

"What's wrong with me?" I echoed, "There's nothing wrong with me, Gon. The question you should be asking is 'what the _fuck_ is wrong with _you_'! You knew about Kitakura. You knew he wanted to use us for a youth potion. You could have backed me up! But instead, you looked away and made it look like I was crazy. Now, you have two choices: One, either you sleep on the fucking couch and don't fucking talk to me for the rest of the night, or two, you go sleep in fucking Leorio and fucking Kurapika's room and talk to them about why I left the conference. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to fucking sleep. Good night."

I laid back down and pulled the sheets over my face. I could tell that Gon was hurt. I never snapped at him like that before. However, I didn't feel guilty about doing it. He deserved it and he knew it. He also knew that everything I had said was true.

"But…" Gon began, "Killua I-"

"Good. Fucking. Night. Gon."

I heard the door open and then close again. So, Gon had chosen option number two. It was probably for the best, anyway. After the fight we just had, I didn't blame him for wanting to sleep in a different room tonight. Even though I didn't regret yelling at him, I felt a tear roll down my face.

It was a new feeling for me. It was a feeling that I never felt before. I couldn't find the words to describe what I was feeling. I think I heard people talking about the feeling I was feeling before, but I never really understood what it felt like. Until now. I was feeling heartbroken.

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The sun, shining through the window, woke me up. I stretched and reached over to wake Gon up, but I didn't feel him there. My mind raced through situations and situations as to what could have happened to him. One thought was that he was kidnapped or beaten up somewhere and left to die. Another thought was that he was safe and sound, eating breakfast in the dining area of the lobby. However, the recollection of what happened last night came into my mind.

_Oh,_ I thought, _right. I kicked him out of the room_.

I looked over at the clock. 10 AM. I figured the conference would have started earlier today and that they had already gone. I had to make sure, though, so I picked up the hotel phone and called Leorio and Kurapika's room. The phone rang and rang and rang. I was about to hang up when a voice answered.

"Hello?" The voice said sleepily. It was Leorio.

"Oh. Leorio," I said, "I thought you guys would have gone to the conference already."

"No," Leorio said, more awake now, "the conference doesn't start until 1 today. Uh, who is this anyway?"

I could tell his mind hadn't registered my voice yet. I figured it was because I woke him up. I knew that if I said my name, I'd be in for a world of pain. Ear pain, that is. Leorio would yell at me over the phone and he'd keep me there with a 'don't you hang up on me' or a 'I'm not finished talking to you yet'. Sometimes both.

"Wait," he said, "Killua? Is that you?"

"Gotta go, bye," I said.

Just as I was about to take the phone away from my ear, Leorio's voice came through, "Don't you hang up on me, young man!" See what I mean? So predictable. He continued saying, "What the hell did you do to Gon last night?"

"I didn't do anything to him!" I yelled.

"Bullshit!" Leorio countered.

"It's true!" I defended.

"Double bullshit!" Leorio said, "If you did nothing, then why the hell did he show up at our door in tears? He couldn't even get a single word in through his sobbing."

I imagined Gon knocking on their door. I imagined Leorio opening the door and seeing Gon's face covered in tears, his eyes red from the crying. I imagined Gon talking though deep breaths, but his words not being understandable because he needed to breath every second. I imagined them taking him into their room, setting him on the couch and talking to him. I imagined Gon lying on their couch, crying himself to sleep. I almost shed some tears myself, when I thought about that. But then I remembered why he had to go to their room in the first place.

"Before I tell you why Gon went to your room," I said, going on the offensive, "Would you mind telling me why nobody had my back at the conference last night?"

"What?" Leorio asked, suddenly taken aback.

"I told you all about Kitakura," I explained, "but when I tried to call him out, nobody fucking backed me up! What kind of fucking bullshit is that?"

"Watch your mouth" Leorio yelled.

"I can fucking say whatever fucking bullshit I want to fucking say," I said, "You fucking asshole! Now fucking tell me why fucking nobody had my fucking back or I'm fucking hanging up!"

There was no answer. I waited for a few seconds. I swore that if I heard the start of an apology, I was hanging up that phone so fast that not even Chairman Netero could have seen my hand move. Another few seconds went by. No answer. Then, a softer voice came on the phone.

"Killua." It was Gon.

"Goodbye." I said and hung up the phone.

I knew it wouldn't take them long to come up here, but I was in no mood for them. I got out of bed and walked over to the door. I locked it so nobody, not even someone with a key card, could get in. I felt like I needed a shower, even though I just had one yesterday.

I went to the bathroom and closed the door. Even though nobody else was in the room, I felt like it was extra padding for if, and when, somebody knocked on the door. I didn't want to deal with any annoying sounds like people knocking on the door or people chewing me out for having a fight with my supposed 'boyfriend'. I turned the water on and got in the shower. I sat down on the floor of the tub and let the water wash over me.

I was pissed. I was pissed at Kitakura, who had just shown up out of nowhere to do who know what! I was pissed at Kurapika for knowing about Kitakura, but never said anything. I was pissed at Leorio, who also didn't say anything against Kitakura and who also thought he could treat me like a child. I was pissed at Gon, who knew full well what Kitakura had wanted to do and yet, never said anything.

Most of all, though, I was pissed at myself. I was pissed at myself for yelling and swearing at Gon. I was pissed at myself for kicking Gon out of the room. I was pissed at myself for swearing at Leorio and calling him an asshole. I was pissed at myself for hanging up on Gon before he had the chance to say anything. I was pissed at myself for locking my friends out of the room.

As I was going through the reasons as to why I was pissed in my head, I felt something encircle my neck from behind. It pulled me closer to a warm, wet surface that was definitely not the wall of the bathroom. I looked down and saw that what had circled my neck, were arms. Not just any arms, though, they were familiar. I followed one of the arms up to a shoulder. I turned around and I saw, kneeling in front of me, was a boy just younger than me with black-green hair.

"Gon," I said, surprised, "How did you-?"

"I used my fishing rod to climb up on to the balcony and let myself in," he said, "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I should have said something last night, but I didn't. I don't know why I didn't. Maybe it was because I was too shocked that Kitakura was actually there. Maybe it was because I was too nervous with all those people watching. I don't know, but I am truly, deeply sorry, Killua. Can you forgive me?"

"Gon," I said as tears once again started rolling down my face, but this time, they were masked by the constant stream of water coming down.

Gon pushed his lips against mine. I pressed mine against his. We were there, naked in the shower, for at least five minutes, just kissing. I was expecting Gon's tongue to enter my mouth, but it didn't. It was like heaven had crashed landed on Earth.


	13. Kitakura Monster

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A/N: So, firstly, I'd like to again apologize for no new "Killua's World". I'll try and work on it this week, though. I'd also like to point out that I decided to take the "mild" and the "minor" out of "mild violence" and "minor swearing" as of this chapter. It's not so graphic that I needed to bump up the rating, it's just that I don't think it qualifies as "mild" anymore. And, after the last chapter, I don't think there's "minor" swearing, either.  
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Chapter 12: Kitakura Monster

I woke up. Gon was beside me. The sun was nowhere in sight. I looked around. We were on the airplane. I relaxed in my seat, closing my eyes again. I thought back to the events of the previous day.

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After our shower, Gon and I had decided to leave Yorknew City. While we were getting ready, there was a banging on the door. I opened it and was immediately greeted with a punch to my face. The force of the punch that had caught me off guard sent me to the ground. I looked up at my assailant with anger in my eyes. However, the anger vanished as Leorio fell to the ground, revealing Kurapika behind him.

"Sorry about that," Kurapika said, "I thought we had agreed that there wasn't going to be any violence." He sighed, "But I guess you can never tell with Leorio."

Leorio got up, rubbing his neck. He complained that Kurapika's chop could have knocked him out cold. Kurapika snapped back that he deserved it. As they argued, I couldn't help but laugh. It started out small, but eventually it was to the point where I was almost rolling on the floor. They looked at me, confused.

"What?" Kurapika said

"What's so funny?" Leorio spoke at the same time.

I wiped a tear away from my eye and said, "It… It's nothing." A sudden burst of laughter escaped and I continued, "It's just that… you two remind me of me and Gon when we argue."

They couldn't help but laugh at the realization that it was true. We laughed for a couple minutes. The laughter stopped when they noticed Gon walking over to see what we were laughing about. We explained to him that it was nothing. He seemed to accept this fact rather quickly.

"So, why'd you punch me, anyway?" I asked Leorio.

"Why?" He echoed, "Let's see, where do I start? How about, for hurting Gon's feelings?"

I interjected, "I was pissed that nobody backed me up at the conference! So, you can't blame me for that!"

"Alright," Leorio said, "Then how about you hanging up on him when all he wanted to do was talk to you?"

"Still pissed." I said, less defensively.

"Then how about you calling me an asshole?" He said.

I paused a moment and then said, "I'm not apologizing for that one."

Leorio was getting really pissed now. He said, "You stinking brat!"

He raised an arm to strike me again and I got up and ready to defend myself. I was willing to cause major bodily harm to Leorio, if necessary. However, Gon stepped in front of me with his determined eyes and Kurapika held Leorio's arm. As soon as Gon had stepped in front of me, I dropped my defensive stance and took up a more natural position. Leorio eventually dropped his arm, too, after pulling it loose from Kurapika's grip.

"Anyway," Kurapika said, "the real reason why we came up here is to see if you were ready."

"There's no way they'd let me back in," I said, "Not after that scene I made last night."

"Fine," Leorio said, still a little pissed, "You can just stay here all afternoon. Gon, get ready. We're gonna be leaving pretty soon."

"Actually," Gon said, "I'm not going, either."

"What?" Leorio asked.

"I've decided to stay with Killua," Gon said, "We're gonna go look for the fountain of -moof?"

I put my hand over Gon's mouth before he could get the last word out. Leorio and Kurapika looked at us quizzically. I knew that if they knew we were going to find the Fountain of Youth, they would try extra hard not to let us go. I couldn't let that happen so I let out a nervous laugh.

"Ging," I said quickly, "We're going to find Ging."

"But," Kurapika said, "Gon said something about a fountain."

"Yeah," I said, adding on to my lie, "We last heard that Ging was somewhere near a famous fountain. So, we're heading there to look for clues about Ging. Right, Gon?"

Gon had turned his head to look at me after I mentioned his dad's name. I looked him in the eyes when I prodded him to answer. His eyes lit up with understanding. They looked beautiful with the light of knowledge in them. I couldn't admire his eyes for very long, though, as he turned his head to look at our friends and he nodded. I removed my hand from his mouth.

"Yeah," Gon said, "It was the Fountain of Wishes in a town to the east of here."

He laughed nervously and I joined in. Our friends looked at us quizzically again and then they looked at each other in the same way. I guessed they were trying to find the answer about our behaviour in each other. I knew they couldn't; they never did. I hoped they wouldn't ask any further.

However, I had no such luck as Kurapika said, "I've never heard of this 'Fountain of Wishes'. Where, exactly, did you say-"

I cut him off, "That's because you haven't travelled as much as us." It sounded reasonable, so I continued, "You've been with your employer so you haven't heard as many rumours."

I hoped he bought it. He was in his normal thinking pose, so I could tell he was considering my words. I also hoped that I wouldn't have to explain to Leorio. If I did, I would have to replace 'with your employer' with 'busy with your studies'. And, for all they knew, this so-called 'Fountain of Wishes' could have become very popular in the last little while and that's why it was reasonable that Ging was there. Of course, there was no 'Fountain of Wishes' and we had no clue as to where Ging could be, but that didn't matter.

"I suppose that's true," Kurapika said after a few seconds.

I let out an inaudible sigh of relief. Fortunately, I didn't have to explain to Leorio as well. They wished us luck in finding Ging and left us to finish preparing for our journey. As soon as they were gone and I closed the door, Gon grabbed my face, turned it towards his and put his lips to mine. It took me a second to register what happened, but by that time, our kiss was over.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"No reason," Gon said, "Just felt like it."

We both laughed and continued packing our bags. I put the book in my bag this time because I figured I'd be the one reading it mostly. A few minutes after Leorio and Kurapika had left us, we left the hotel. Gon called us a cab while I told the front desk that we were checking out of the room. When I walked out of the hotel, Gon was standing by the cab, holding the door open. I shot him a quizzical look and he just grinned.

"Feeling chivalrous, today, Gon?" I asked as I got into the cab.

"I just thought I'd do something nice for you," he said, climbing in after me, "to make up for last night."

He looked down at his feet. I could tell he still felt bad about not standing up for me at the conference last night. Seeing him so down, it made my heart feel a tiny pang of guilt for yelling at him the way I did. I wanted to just tell him to forget about it and not worry anymore. However, I decided to do the exact opposite.

"You know," I began. He looked up at me and I continued, "It's gonna take a lot more than a couple kisses and holding the door open to make me forgive you."

He nodded, as if he was expecting me to say that. I admit, I wasn't expecting him to nod and it caught me a little off guard. I knew he was thinking he would do anything to gain my forgiveness and it made me think. Was what I was doing wrong? Was I taking advantage of him just because he was so gullible? My thoughts were interrupted by my phone ringing.

"Hello?" I said, answering it.

"Killua!" It was Leorio. He sounded desperate.

"Yeah?" I said, a little confused.

"Is Gon with you?" He still sounded desparate.

"Yeah," I said, "of course."

"Thank God," He said, relieved.

Gon wanted to know what was happening and I just shrugged my shoulders. Leorio continued, "Kitakura isn't here."

"So?" I asked, "Maybe he's just running late?"

"No," Leorio said, his voice more grave, "That isn't it."

"Okay then," I said, trying to come up with suggestions, "Maybe-"

I was cut off, "Everybody else is dead."

"What?" I said.

"Everybody that was at the conference last night," Leorio said, "They're all dead. Kitakura is the only one not here."

"How long have they been dead?" I asked.

"I'm guessing around twelve to fourteen hours," Leorio said. He must have known my next question because he continued, "We were the only ones that left right after the conference ended. Everybody else stayed to enjoy some refreshments. It's a bloody mess here. Literally. You guys have to get away from this city now."

Leorio kept talking but I stopped listening when something on my right caught my attention. A shadow moved down a side road. It was human-like in appearance, but it also looked like it was imitating an animal as it moved. And it moved fast. I had a pretty good guess as to who and what it was.

"I've got to go, Leorio," I said, distracted, "I'll call you back later."

"What?" He asked, "Killua, I'm not done talking to you!"

"Yeah," I said, "You too."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He yelled, "Killua! Don't hang up on me! Killu-"

I hung up. I leaned forward and told the driver of the cab to turn down the next street. He protested that it wasn't the way to the airport, but I told him to do it anyways. Gon asked what was going on and what the call was about. I told him I'd fill him in on the details later. I directed the cab driver to turn where the shadow turned until we pulled up to a park, where the cab couldn't go.

I opened the door, told the cab driver to stay and closed the door again. Gon got out and followed me into the park, all the while asking me what was going on. It was a few steps later that I told him what Leorio had told me. I also told him about the shadow I saw. I was about to tell him my theory on the shadow, but Gon chimed in.

"So," he said, "you think this shadow is Kitakura?"

"Yeah," I said, "That's pretty much it."

We ran through the park, looking for any signs of the shadow. It was weird, it was a beautiful day and yet nobody was in the park. I brought this up with Gon, who agreed. I saw the shadow move out of the corner of my eye and immediately ran in that direction. Gon followed.

We ran into a wooded area of the park. I thought it seemed perfectly reasonable for Kitakura to hide out in a place that resembled a forest. After all, he had come from a forest. As we ran, Gon tripped and grabbed my shirt, pulling me down with him. I'm not sure which one of us had it worse. Me, being choked by my own shirt and hitting my head on something hard, or Gon, hitting his face on the ground and having my head smack into his.

I sat up, rubbing my head where it had hit Gon's. I turned around to look at Gon, who was getting up, holding his face. Apparently he didn't feel my head smack into his, which gave me my conclusion: I had it worse. I felt like hitting him on the head, just so he would feel how I felt. However, he just looked at me and grinned that stupid grin.

"Heh-heh," he laughed, "Sorry, Killua. I slipped."

"How could you have slipped?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said, "but I suddenly lost my footing."

"Well," I said, "next time you decide to suddenly loose your footing, don't bring me down with you."

As I was getting to my feet, I saw the shadow moving in the trees. I could tell it was getting closer to us. I was tracking its movements in the trees, when it suddenly stopped. I looked around, but I found no signs of it anywhere. I was about to tell Gon to stay on his guard, as he was just getting off the ground himself, when the shadow jumped from the side of the trees and hit Gon, sending him to the other side.

"Gon!" I yelled, while running after him.

When I entered the denser part of the woods, I saw Gon laying on his back with a snarling part-wolf part-human on top of him. I knew in an instant that it was Kitakura. It looked like he was trying to bite Gon's face off. Gon was just barely dodging the gnashing teeth trying to get him. I ran up to the monster and punched it in its face. Unfortunately, the punch didn't knock it off of Gon, like I was hoping. Instead it just turned its attention towards me.

"Shit." I said as I realized it was going to come after me.

I started to run away. I looked back to see if the Kitakura monster was still chasing me. It was. However, I also saw Gon getting up and looking in the direction I was running. I saw him nod his head and he got into the position he does when he's charging up to use his Nen.

I got the message. I stopped and turned to face the charging Kitakura. When I was sure the monster was running straight, I ran towards it. The monster opened its mouth as if it was going to take a bite out of me. However I put out my hand, placed it on the monster's snout, and jumped over it. I also sent a little shock into it, just to get it really pissed. I ran back towards Gon and looked back to see if the monster followed. I saw it start running again-apparently, the shock I gave it and the fact that I jumped over it made it stop- and it resumed chasing me.

I stopped right in front of Gon, smiled at him, and turned around to face the oncoming Kitakura monster. The monster was waving this time. It went to one side, then the middle, then the other side, then back to the middle. Once it was right in front of me, I stepped out of its way and Gon landed a fully charged Nen punch right on Kitakura's nose. The monster went rolling away, doing back flips.

"You…" Kitakura said, writhing in pain, "Damn… Brats!"

He got up on his feet and for the first time, I got an actual good look at him. He was completely hairy now with the head of a wolf and the body of a man. His hands were human, but his feet were paws. However, his head started to change back to that of a human's. I could see blood on his face, both dried and wet. The dried blood was around his mouth and the wet blood was coming from his broken nose.

"I'll kill you," Kitakura said, "I'll kill you both, you fucking damn shitheads!"

"I'd like to see you try," I said, mockingly, "bitch."

Kitakura started running on his feet but then he got on his hands. I ran up to meet him. When we got close to each other, I slid under him and grabbed onto his arms. I was hoping to stop once I had a hold of him so I could be all badass in front of Gon, but I kept sliding and pulled Kitakura's arms underneath him, sending his body flying and landing on his back. When he landed, I had stopped sliding and I immediately brought some electricity into my aura. I'm not sure how many volts I sent into Kitakura's body, but when I stopped, he was motionless.

I sighed in relief and got up. I walked towards Gon, whose face went from excitement to horrified in a matter of seconds. I also felt my shoulder starting to hurt. I looked and noticed it was bleeding. It wasn't bleeding before, so how- I felt another swipe at the same shoulder and it knocked me to the ground. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Kitakura standing above me. My eyes went wide when I saw him.

"Killua!" Gon shouted.

At the mention of my name, I looked and saw Gon running towards me. I wanted to shout at him to stay back, but I felt Kitakura's hand on my neck, pushing it down to the ground. I couldn't say anything. Gon was focusing his Nen into his fist again. He punched but Kitakura dodged and smacked him away.

"I'll deal with you later," he said to Gon, "but first, I'm going to take care of this little bitch."

He laughed. I knew he was insulting me, but I was too concerned about Gon, who had hit a tree and was laying on the ground, struggling to breath. Apparently, Kitakura had once again transformed his head into that of a wolf's as I saw really sharp teeth out of the corner of my eye. I also felt his saliva dripping on my head. I admit, it didn't feel very nice. I closed my eyes, waiting for the moment where I felt nothing. Gon cried my name as best he could but he was still too winded to do anything.

"Get the fuck away from my friends" a familiar voice said.

I opened my eyes just in time to see Leorio roundhouse kick Kitakura in his broken nose. The impact sent Kitakura flying into one of the nearby trees. Leorio pulled out a pocket knife and ran towards Kitakura. I wanted to follow him with my eyes, but it was like they were glued to what was in front of me. When I gained control of my eyes back, I quickly looked to where Leorio was actually stabbing Kitakura with the pocket knife. He was relentless, too.

A few seconds later, I saw him moving both hands on Kitakura. I couldn't tell what he was doing and I wasn't sure I wanted to know. He pulled on something. When he finished pulling, he threw that something onto the ground beside them and he continued stabbing the beast. Kurapika had to step in and pull Leorio away from Kitakura. When Leorio was moved, I noticed Kitakura had a huge hole in his chest and was bleeding out immensely. I looked to the ground and noticed a heart. I looked at Leorio, who was breathing heavily and covered in blood. I couldn't believe my eyes.

When Leorio regained his composure, he said, "Well. He won't be bothering anybody anymore."

I was still in shock. I looked toward Gon, who looked the same way. Leorio came over to me and lifted me by my good shoulder onto my feet. I held my shoulder, as I still felt some pain in it. Kurapika helped Gon up. Fortunately, Gon wasn't hurt.

"Come on," Leorio said, "We need to get you to a hospital to get that wound of yours taken care of."

All four of us walked out of the woods. I heard some sirens in the distance. They were probably coming to the park, but by the time they got there, we would be gone. A thought kept nagging me. It was nagging me from the moment I saw Leorio kick Kitakura.

"How did you guys find us?" I asked.

Leorio smirked, "Well, once we figured out that Kitakura was behind what happened at the conference, I remembered you said that he had lived in a forest so, naturally, I thought of the only place resembling a forest in this city."

Kurapika shot him a glare that was a mix between angry and annoyed. Leorio corrected himself, giving the proper credit to Kurapika. His corrected version made a lot more sense. When we got back to the cab, Gon opened the door for me again. He smiled at me and I smiled back at him. Leorio and Kurapika had gotten into their own cab before Gon and I got into ours.

"What happened to you, kid?" The cabbie asked after we got in.

"If I told you the truth," I said, "you wouldn't believe me."

Gon agreed and the cabbie said, "Try me."

I looked to Gon who shrugged. I sighed and said, "Alright. But first, take us to the nearest hospital."

"You got it kid," the cabbie said. When we started driving, he continued, "So what happened?"

I thought of a way to word what I was about to say. "Alright, so, we just had a fight with a shape-shifting wolf monster."

I noticed the cabbies disbelieving eyes in the rear view mirror. I was expecting him to say something condescending like, 'You shouldn't make up such crazy stories' or 'You kids and your active imaginations'. However, he said nothing of the sort. All he did was just nod.

"Cool," he said, "Wish I could have seen it."

"Believe me," I said, "it wasn't that great."


	14. Extermination Hunters

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A/N: Happy End of the World! That's right, today, December 21, 2012 is the end of the world. So, I"d like to thank you all for reading my stories and enjoy the last chapter I'll ever write.  
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Chapter 13: Extermination Hunters

As soon as the cab had stopped in front of the hospital, Gon opened the door and helped me out, despite my protests. Leorio and Kurapika's cab had pulled up behind ours and they got out to help me as well. I insisted I was fine and that I could handle myself, but Leorio insisted otherwise. I reminded him of my previous occupation and all the training I did.

He scoffed, "That's no excuse for not wanting help."

"Guys," I said, "seriously, it's not that bad. It's just a cut. There's no need to worry."

"Have you seen yourself?" Leorio asked, "Your whole right side is red and you're trying to say it's 'not that bad'? Bullshit. Now let us help you into the hospital."

I was getting frustrated. I said, "It doesn't take three people to help one person get somewhere. Especially when that one person is fully capable of walking on his own two feet. Honestly, compared to what I've been through during my training, this is just a scratch." I exhaled and continued, "Look, I'm thankful that you were there to help. I'm thankful that you care enough about me to worry about my well being, but this is honestly nothing. I don't need your help anymore. I can manage fine on my own."

"You're sure about this?" Kurapika asked, "From our view point, it looks pretty bad."

"Yes," I said, "I'm sure. I'll go in the hospital, get it cleaned up, maybe get a couple stitches and be out of there in no time. I'm sure you have a lot of other things you have to do and they're probably more important than worrying about me."

"I'm still not that sure we should just leave you alone," Leorio said.

"Who says I'm alone?" I asked, "I've got Gon. You know he'd make me go through with this. So, please, just get back into your cab and go do whatever it is you're gonna do now."

Leorio was going to say something, but he saw that I was being sincere. It was very rare when I was being truly sincere and this was one of those times. I guess I was like Gon when being truly sincere: stubborn and unreasonable. Kurapika stared at me for a while and then nodded. He grabbed Leorio, who sighed, and they both climbed into their cab.

As the cab was pulling away, Leorio opened the door and yelled, "Make sure you call me when everything is over."

I promised I would and raised my right arm to wave goodbye. I winced, forgetting that there was pain there. Gon said my name, concerned, and I told him I was alright. Our cab driver turned off the engine and got out. I told him that he didn't need to come in and that Gon and I could handle everything, but he insisted.

"You kids got into my cab," he said, "That means I gotta take care of you, no matter what."

"Alright," I said, "but you're not getting anything extra out of this. You know that, right?"

The cabbie laughed and said, "I'm not expecting anything extra from a couple of young Hunters such as yourselves."

"Good," I said as I turned around to walk into the hospital. When the realization of what he had said sunk in, I stopped, turned around and asked, "What? How did you know…?"

My voice trailed as the cabbie laughed again. He pulled out a card that looked almost identical to mine and Gon's and said, "I'm a Hunter, myself. An Extermination Hunter, to be precise. There aren't that many of us, but we're really good at what we do."

"What is it," Gon asked, "that Extermination Hunters do?"

"I'm sure you know what a Blacklist Hunter does," he said. We nodded and he continued, "Well, we're kind of like that. Only, we don't hunt dangerous criminals. We hunt dangerous creatures. The Hunter's Association has been aware of creatures, like the one you called Kitakura, for a while now. They realized that these creatures were too dangerous to preserve and so we were sent to exterminate them."

"Wait, how did you know about Kitakura?" I asked, "We never told you that."

The cabbie laughed again and said, "Let's take care of that wound you have first. I'll explain everything then."

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I was sitting on a hospital bed with Gon washing my wound. The nurse that originally brought us to the room had wanted to do it, but Gon insisted he could do it. I could tell he was about to say 'better than you can' to the nurse, because that's what I would say, but he didn't. He told the nurse he'd call for a doctor when the wound was clean. I figured he just wanted an excuse to touch me when my shirt was off.

"So," I said to the cabbie, "you're saying that you could have jumped in at any time during our fight?"

The cabbie, who had introduced himself as Joel when we entered the hospital, said, "Yes."

"Then why the hell didn't you!?" I yelled while waving my left fist at him.

"Killua," Gon complained, "don't move! I need to get this cleaned and when you move, more blood comes."

Gon continued to wipe my wound with a wet cloth. A little bit later, he started kissing my neck and my back. I shrugged him off, saying it tickled when he kissed my back. Admittedly, it wasn't the smartest thing to say. Especially to Gon, as he continued kissing my back. He started rubbing my chest, as well, but I hardly felt it.

"Well," Joel said, looking a little uncomfortable, "I was about to, when your friend just showed up and- um…" He turned his eyes away and said, "Maybe you two would like a little privacy?"

I felt Gon's caress move lower as Joel was talking. I felt it move to my waistline and when I felt my pants being lifted, I elbowed Gon in the stomach. I hadn't meant to hit him hard; just enough to get his hand out of my pants. However, I heard Gon fall off the bed and hit his head on the floor.

"Ow…" He said as he sat up, rubbing his head.

"You see Gon?" I asked, "This is why I don't let you kiss me in public; it makes people uncomfortable. Now get back up here, wash my shoulder and keep your free hand to yourself."

Gon got back on the bed, grumbling. I had to hold in a laugh. I started a conversation with Joel again, asking him how long he had known about Kitakura. He said that he didn't know about Kitakura specifically until my outburst last night. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, as I didn't remember seeing him there. Had he come in while I was sleeping?

"Killua," Gon's voice was a bit worried, "I think the cut is deeper than you had first thought. No matter how much I wash it, more blood keeps coming. Maybe we should get the doctor in here."

"I'll go and get one," Joel said.

As Joel got up out of his chair, Gon whispered in my ear, "Isn't there an assassin trick you can do to stop the blood?"

Joel left the room in search of a doctor. I had to concentrate on stopping the blood flow to my shoulder. It was tricky, since I hadn't had to do it in a very long time. However, I managed it and Gon continued to clean it. A few seconds later, Joel returned with a doctor. The doctor asked Gon to move so he could get a better look at my shoulder.

"Hey, doc," I said, "I'm planning on leaving the city today and I don't know when I'll be able to get to a hospital so, could we skip the stitches?"

"I'm afraid that won't be possible, son," the doctor said, "This wound is simply too deep for anything else."

"Couldn't you just tape it up?" I asked.

"Hmm…" the doctor said, examining the depth of my wound, "Tape only does so much. I doubt it'll do anything for this, though."

"Shit." I said, disappointed.

"Um," the doctor said cautiously, "how, exactly, did you receive this wound?"

"Um…" I was caught off guard. I couldn't think of a response. The only thing I could manage was, "I…"

"He fell out of a tree," Gon added quickly, "We were climbing trees in the park and he lost his footing and fell. I was going to carry him here, but this nice man," he gestured toward Joel, "saw us and picked us up in his cab."

I was surprised. I was even amazed. Gon had just lied to somebody. Not only that, but he had made up a story so believable, that covered every little detail, you had no choice but to believe him. Not to mention he said it in his 'it was all my fault' tone of voice.

The doctor was satisfied and didn't ask any more questions. He asked me to lay down on my front so he could do the stitching. As part of my assassin training, I was tortured with pins and needles digging into my flesh. I was trained to not feel anything that small. The stitching process didn't take long because I told the doctor he didn't need to worry about the freezing part.

Once I was all stitched up, the doctor said, "I imagine with a wound that deep, that it'll take a few days for it to heal so, leave the stitches in there for at least a few days. If you can't make it to a hospital to get the stitches out, then I'm sure your little friend here," he put a hand on Gon's shoulder, "would be more than willing to take them out."

Two things about what the doctor had just said had scared me. The first was that I made no mention of Gon coming with me when I left town. The doctor had just assumed that on his own. The second was what scared me the most, however. Gon taking out my stitches. My mind imagined all the possible outcomes of that. Most of them were good, however, there were a few that didn't end so well.

The doctor said that I could rest in the room until I was feeling up to leaving. Of course, I was up to leaving that place as soon as he was finished with the stitching, but I decided to take advantage of the time to rest. Especially after the fight with Kitakura. I thanked the doctor as he left the room. There was a silence that lingered in the room for a moment that was broken when Joel started up a conversation.

"I have a proposition for you," he said.

I sat up so Gon could sit on the bed as well. I looked at Gon, who shared my expression: a raised eyebrow. We both looked at Joel, expecting him to say more. However, he let the word 'proposition' hang in the air for a while. He might have been expecting us to say something. I seized the moment and took the bait.

"What kind of proposition?" I asked.

He smiled, "The Hunter's Association is well aware of your sudden interest in creatures known as 'Super Soldiers'."

"How…" Gon's voice trailed.

"The card you used was successfully traced to you, Gon Freecss," he said, "However, the deletion got cut short due to a sudden crash in the computer you used. But, that's not the point. The point is that we're willing to pay you eighteen billion Jenny for your help in the execution of these Super Soldiers. We have all the information needed thanks to your friend, Kite. It's a shame what happened to him."

Gon's hand clenched his pant leg. He probably still had some repressed anger of that incident. He probably wanted to find the bastard that killed Kite and kill him in the same manner. However, I couldn't let that happen. I couldn't let Gon become what I had stopped being. I didn't want Gon to become a killer.

"Sorry, but-" I began.

Joel cut me off, "Before you answer, you might want to know that we also have information on a certain fountain that might interest you. Also thanks to your friend, Kite."

My interest was peaked. There were so many things I wanted to know. For starters, I wanted to know how the bloody hell he knew about our interest in the Fountain of Youth. We hadn't told anybody. Not even Leorio and Kurapika, our closest friends.

"Ah," Joel said with a grin on his face, "Interested, are we? Well, you'll only get the information if you agree to our mission."

I sighed. "Fine. We'll do it. But only because we have some unfinished business with those bastards."

Joel smiled. "That's what I like to hear." He got up and walked to the door, "I'll have all the information you need in my cab. So, when you're ready, you can meet me there."

He left and Gon and I just stared at the floor. Neither of us wanted to talk. Neither of us wanted to move. We just wanted to soak in the mood. I was the first one to break the silence by reaching for my shirt.

"Killua," Gon said, "If we find the bastard that killed Kite," he paused, "I might kill him. So, I need you to promise me one thing."

"Sure, Gon," I said, "Anything."

"If it looks like I'm about to kill him," he said, "I want you to kill me."

"What?" I asked, "Gon, that's crazy! You know I could never-"

"Promise me!" He looked into my eyes and it looked like they were threatening me to promise.

I sighed and hit him on the head. I then proceeded to put my shirt back on. After his usual 'that hurt!' and 'what did you do that for?', he went back to staring at me. He knew that he was asking me to make a promise that I couldn't keep. He knew that if I killed him, then I would kill Leorio and Kurapika and go back to being an assassin for the Zoldyck family for the rest of my life. I would probably find a way to kill myself shortly after my return to my family. It was something that I wasn't willing to do.

"I'm not going to make you a promise," I said, "that I know I wouldn't be able to keep. Besides, if I killed you, then our whole journey to find the Fountain of Youth would be pointless."

Gon blinked. "Oh. Right. I never thought about that."

He laughed and I hit him on the head. I said, "Come on, we need to leave now," and got off the bed.

I walked to the door and Gon followed. We walked outside the hospital to a waiting cab. It was late afternoon, I noted. Somehow, the whole day had felt longer. I was about to reach for the handle to the cab when Gon's hand reached around me and grabbed it first. He opened the door with a cheeky grin on his face and I climbed in.

After Gon had climbed in and closed the door, Joel handed us a binder. He said that it contained information on the Super Soldiers that wasn't found on the Hunter's Website. He also said that it contained information on the Fountain of Youth that was very rare. I wanted to ask him how he knew we were interested in the fountain. I needed to ask him! So Gon asked him.

He handed us a familiar looking book and said, "Sorry. While you two were in the park, I quickly looked through your bags and found this book. I needed to know if you were the right ones for the job so I did some improvised research."

I took the book and quickly skimmed it to see if any pages were missing. None were. We asked Joel to take us to the airport and we took off. On our way, Gon and I looked through the binder. There was a lot of information that would take a while to read through. Descriptions of physical appearance, mental capabilities, average strength. All of these and more were just part of what I saw.

As we pulled up to the airport, Joel gave us a card. He said if we needed anything that we could call him at the number, no matter where we were. We thanked him and offered to pay him for taking us all over, but he just said that our accepting the mission was payment enough. We got out of the cab and headed into the airport. We bought our tickets and boarded our plane.

The plane took off as the sun was just beginning to set. It had been a long day, indeed. As soon as the plane had taken off, Gon had cuddled up close to me and began to doze off. I didn't blame him; I felt like doing the same. However, I needed to compare what was in the book to what was in the binder.

At first glance, nothing seemed different. However, as I got into greater details, I found that there was a name that appeared in the book several times. I looked at the information in the binder and noticed that the same name appeared only a handful of times. The last time the name is mentioned in the binder, another name appears right after it.

I had decided that we would need more information about the Fountain of Youth. Or, at least, clarity on certain subjects. We needed to find the person mentioned in the book several times. We needed to find the one who wrote the book. The 'One Who Knows'.

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A/N: Did you really believe me at the beginning of the chapter? Ha! No, the world didn't end today. It's just a prank some crazy Mayans pulled with their calendar. They sure got people good, though, I have to admit. Anyways, on to more serious matters. I'm sorry, once again, for no new "Killua's World". It's just this story pulled me right in with its... um... story. However, since I was having some writer's block with this chapter, I'll try and work on "Killua's World" before starting on more "Redux".  
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	15. The One Who Knows

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A/N: Happy New Year to all of my readers. Thanks for your patience with my stories.  
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Chapter 14: The One Who Knows

Our plane landed at the airport we needed to be at. It was lucky, since our tickets didn't really specify any location. The airports all know that Hunters could need to fly anywhere at any given moment so, if you showed them a Hunter's license, they would give you blank tickets with the mark of the Hunter's Association on them. You'd then have to guess the closest airport to where you need to go. So, it was lucky for us that we landed at the right airport, since all we knew was the name of the city this guy was living in.

"Hello, boys," a voice came from behind.

Gon and I turned around to see a man in a dark grey suit, a black shirt, black pants and wore a bandana that covered his eyes. He had a brown neatly-trimmed beard that covered the bottom of his face. However, behind all of that, I noticed he was smiling. It was a gentle smile, kind of like what Kite had when we met him. He let out a chuckle as he saw us get into defensive stances.

"I'm sorry to have frightened you, boys," he said, "My name is Hikaryo Gatsumono. My master, Gakura Hitsujikan, sent me to retrieve you."

"Retrieve us?" I asked.

"Oh," he said as if realizing a mistake, "I'm sorry. I meant that he sent me as a guide."

"A guide to where?" I asked.

"A guide to meet somebody that you seek," he responded, "The 'One Who Knows'."

We were shocked that he knew who we were looking for. The name 'Gakura Hitsujikan' wasn't in the book or the binder, so I didn't know that anybody else knew about the 'One Who Knows'. I was still a little wary of this man, but Gon seemed to trust him as soon as he mentioned the 'One Who Knows', so I decided to follow Gon's judgement. After all, Gon usually has a good taste in who he trusts.

We followed Hikaryo out of the airport and to a waiting car. He opened the door and allowed us to get in first. Once I was in, I saw two swords on the seat facing us. Hikaryo got in and sat next to them, resting his hand on the swords. I got ready so if he dared try to attack either me or Gon, he would lose his life first, however, I didn't show it. He signalled the driver to drive and the car started to move.

As we were driving, Hikaryo tried to make small talk. Gon was obliging him in the talking, but I was more focused on any sudden movements he made. I saw Gon look at me for a brief instant when he noticed I wasn't talking. I gave him a look that said 'It's alright, just keep talking.' So he did and didn't pay me any mind. He must have known what I was thinking and didn't want Hikaryo to know.

The car stopped in front of a house that was bigger than your average house. Hikaryo opened the door and stepped out with his swords in his hand. He motioned for us to get out of the car as well. I let myself relax slightly but still kept my guard up. As I got out of the car, I noticed an old man sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch of the house. I didn't pay him any mind and looked at the house instead. It was big, long, white and grey with some blue on the sides. It didn't seem that impressive at first.

While I was trying to get a good look at the house, my attention kept going back to the old man. His head was covered with white hair which, at first glance, one might think was snow. He also had a beard, like Hikaryo's, that covered the bottom half of his face. It was also extremely white. Hikaryo asked us to follow him as he stepped through the gate of the house up to where the old man was sitting.

"Mater," he said, bowing slightly to the old man, 'I have brought the children, like you asked."

"Thank you, Hikaryo," the old man said before he coughed. "You may leave us now."

"Yes, Master, but," Hikaryo hesitated and leaned in closer to his master and whispered, "are you sure you will be alright? I have felt nothing but hostility from the silver-haired boy."

I wondered how he could have noticed my hair color through that bandana he had over his eyes. I thought that all he could see was black. I also wondered how he was able to sense my hostility towards him. He seemed so relaxed when he was talking with Gon in the car and I thought I had hidden my hostility pretty well. I looked over to Gon, who just shrugged as if he knew what I was going to ask.

"I am quite sure, Hikaryo," the old man said, "I trust you know that I can take care of myself. Besides, these boys wouldn't hurt a fly, let alone a defenceless old man, without proper motivation."

Hikaryo seemed confused at the old man's words because he asked, "But, master, what about the-"

"The hostility you felt," the old man cut him off and coughed again, "was the urge to protect. The young man simply felt threatened because of your weapons and felt it was necessary that he defend himself and his friend if the occasion arose. Go inside, now, and prepare something for these boys to eat. I can imagine airplane food not tasting that good."

"Yes, master," Hikaryo said and then went inside the house.

Once Hikaryo was gone, the old man started coughing again. Gon and I looked at each other with raised eyebrows. I had to wonder how it was that this old man, who we never met, knew so much about us. I also had to wonder how he knew we would be coming since we didn't phone anybody to tell them where we were. Gon and I had a silent competition to decide who would ask the old man. I lost so I had to. I opened my mouth to say something, but the old man cut me off before I could get a word out.

"You want to know who I am and how I knew about you, yes, Killua?" At the mention of my name, I couldn't help but let my mouth hang open for a second. I was about to ask how he knew my name, but the old man said, "All in due time, young one. First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Gakura Hitsujikan. You may also know me as Akabe Juri or the 'One Who Knows'. I wrote the book your friend has in his backpack.

"As you have already figured out, I wrote the book using Nen. You may have also figured out that in order to have written the book using Nen, that I must have knowledge of Nen. I'm sure that you are piecing my words together like a puzzle, young Zoldyck, so I shall give you more pieces. I am of the Specialization category of Nen users. I use my Nen to look into the hearts of others."

He talked quite fast, for an old man. However, being old, he had to cough quite a bit. After he was done talking, he coughed and I took the opportunity to get my thoughts in. I asked him how he knew our hearts since we never met him. I also asked him how he knew we were coming.

"Both of those questions," he said after he was done coughing, "can be answered quite simply with one answer. If I use my Nen on something, it will linger on that something. It doesn't matter how long ago I used it on that something, if somebody comes in contact with it then I can know their hearts. I may have written that book many years ago, but I know every heart that has ever touched it.

"Of course, this kind of ability does not come easily. I had to pay a great price for it. A price that I'd rather not say at this moment, as I do not feel I can say it clearly enough that you would understand. Ah, I sense that you still wish to know. Then have a seat on the grass before me and I shall tell you a tale."

This old man was starting to annoy me with the way he talked. However, I was genuinely curious as to how he got his Nen ability and what he had to pay. I wondered if it was anything like Kurapika's condition to only use his chains on the Phantom Troupe or he'd die. I was about to sit, but someone pulled my arm and I fell on my face. I sat up and saw Gon looking at me, grinning like an idiot. I hit him on the head.

"Ow!" He said holding his head, "Why'd you do that?"

"Why did you pull my arm?" I countered.

He said nothing. Instead he just pouted. I let out a sigh. I hated when he pouted. I gave him a kiss to cheer him up. The old man just laughed. The laugh reminded me of that geezer Netero, the Chairman of the Hunter's Association. I shot him an angry look that challenged him to say he had a problem with me kissing Gon. However, my anger went away when the laughing turned into coughing.

"Do not misinterpret, young one," the old man said, "I was laughing because I have never seen a relationship so pure, such as yours, before. Not since my own…" He trailed off and thought for a few seconds. This caused him to cough for a while. Then as if nothing had happened, he continued, "Now, then, if you are seated comfortably, I shall begin my tale. My tale begins many years in the past, when I was but a young man of seventeen.

"It was my final year of schooling. I was listening to my teacher talking about mythical lands and creatures. He was saying there were many myths that had truths, such as a certain fountain that grants youth everlasting. Everybody in class did not believe the teacher. Everybody, except one girl who claimed to have seen somebody drink of the fountain. I had noticed this girl before, but I never heard her speak until that moment as she usually stayed quiet.

"She had the most beautiful voice I'd ever heard. Her name was Kari Hikamura. I fell in love with her instantly and we started dating after a few weeks of being friends. Once we were graduated, we heard about people who searched the world for mysterious places. These people were called 'Hunters'. We decided we would take the Hunter's Exam together. It was hard, but we managed to pass.

"After we had our Hunter's Licenses, we decided to research the Fountain of Youth. Sometime during our research, I asked Kari to marry me. I was excited when she accepted. As time went by, our research grew more intense. We came across several articles that suggested we need a mysterious power to find the fountain. The power of Nen.

"We found somebody willing to train us in Nen. Kari was an Emitter and I was a Specialist. We trained in Nen for several months. In about two years, we had mastered Nen enough that we could defend ourselves on our journey. However, we did not stop training. We did research in between our training. We had to make sure we were prepared.

"It was about two years after we finished our training that we decided to finally take our journey. We travelled far and we travelled long. We came to the end of the Known World. Once we realized that our journey would take us to the Outside World, we knew we would be on our own; that nobody would help us. We rented out a ship and journeyed across the ocean into the Outside World. The seas were calm at first, but they turned violent as we got closer to the Outside World.

"We safely made it across the terrible seas, though not without a few close calls. Our ship landed on a land that had yet to be explored. We figured it was a good place to start looking for the Fountain. We searched that island for weeks on end, but we fond no sign of the Fountain. As we made our way back to the ship, a terrible earthquake happened. The ground opened up and swallowed my beloved Kari.

"It was fortunate that she grabbed on to a piece of land that was sticking out. After a moment of shock, I grabbed onto a vine hanging from a tree and repelled down into the chasm. I grabbed onto Kari's arm and tried to lift her up onto my shoulders, but my grip wasn't tight enough and she fell deeper to where I could no longer see her.

"I climbed up to the surface and ran back to the ship before another earthquake could happen. I immediately set back for home. As I crossed the seas again, I was begging the storm to take my life so I could be with the one that I loved. The storm did not grant my request, however, it did give me my ability. As I was struck by lightning, knowledge filled my mind.

"As soon as I got home, I sat at my desk and began to write. Without my knowing it, I had written an entire book in Nen. I had the book published by an old friend. The next morning, I could see nothing. In exchange for the Nen connection to the book, my eyes were taken. I learned to reach out with my Nen and my aura had become a second set of eyes for me.

"I began to study in martial arts. Once I had mastered that, I opened my own school. It doubles as a home for those who have lost their loved ones. I teach those who have lost their eyes to reach out with Nen. Hikaryo is the best student I have ever had. He is like a son to me and he treats me like a father. He lost his family when he was young and because of it, his eyes are stained red. That is why he wears the mask over his eyes."

When the old man had finished his story, he coughed for a long time. I looked over at Gon and he looked at me. I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was. This man was far more advanced in Nen than we were. I had to know if it was possible for him to train us. I opened my mouth to ask.

"Mr. Hitsujikan," Gon said before I could, "Will you train us?"

"Eh?" The old man asked, "Train you? In what?"

"In Nen," Gon said, "Will you train us to reach out with our Nen like you do?"

The old man though about Gon's question. It was only at that time that I noticed the old man had his eyes closed the entire time we had been there. I thought about how he said his 'eyes had been taken'. I just thought that meant that he went blind, but even blind people open their eyes. Did he mean that his eyes were literally taken from his face?

"No," the old man said, taking me out of my thoughts, "No, I cannot train you to reach out with your Nen."

Gon seemed upset and seeing him upset pissed me off. I stood up and got in the old man's face and asked, rather loudly, "Why the hell not, old man?"

"Killua-" Gon began.

"No," I said, "This geezer needs to answer me or I'll kill him!" I turned my hand into a claw and pressed it up against his neck.

"Killua!" Gon said again.

"What?" I turned around to look at Gon and he hit me on the head. "Ow!" I said, "What hell did you do that for, Gon?!"

"You're being too rash, Killua," Gon chided, "Calm down."

I hated to admit it, but Gon was right. Gon was right most of the time, it seemed. I turned again to the old man and apologized. The old man laughed and coughed in between his laughter. The constant laughing at the things that I did was starting to piss me off as well.

"There's no need to apologize, young one," he said, "I understand your feelings. I cannot train you to reach out with your Nen because you do not need my training. The bond that you two share is stronger than anything and in order to train you to reach out with your Nen, you would have to sever that bond. That is something I am not willing to do. A bond like yours cannot be mended once it is severed."

I was a bit confused at his words, but I knew they held some important message. Hikaryo came out of the house and told us that he prepared dinner and a room for us. The old man led us inside and sat us at a table where different kinds of food was laid out. I noticed the inside of the house was just as big as the outside and it was kept pretty neat. There wasn't anything too fancy inside, but it had a kind of feeling to it. I couldn't quite place the feeling, but it felt kind of like being back at Gon's house on Whale Island.

At the table, I noticed several other people. Some of them were kids around mine and Gon's age, but most of them were older, probably around Milluki's age. I guessed that Gon and I were most likely the only ones at the table with families. I should have felt bad, but for some reason, I didn't. Seeing everybody smiling told me that they had a family with the old man. My lips cracked a small smile that faded when I saw Gon looking at me.

"What?" I said.

"Oh, nothing." He said turning his head away.

He then laughed to himself like he just thought of the lamest joke in history. Knowing Gon, that description probably wasn't too far off. He could find just about anything funny. It was something that should annoy me, but doesn't. It's something that's hard to explain.

After dinner, we followed Hikaryo up the stairs. He led us down a hall and opened the door to the room he said we'd be sleeping in. He was about to leave when I stopped him. I wanted to ask him something, but I couldn't find the right words to ask without it sounding offensive to him. I had a tendency to do that. I looked to Gon for help because he knew what I wanted to ask.

"Hikaryo," Gon said, "Have you heard of the Kurtas?"

"Kurtas?" Hikaryo asked.

"They're a tribe of people that travelled all over the place," I said, "When they get angry, they're eyes turn red."

"Yes," Hikaryo said, "I think I remember hearing about them once. I heard that they were killed. How do you boys know-?"

"We have a friend who's a Kurta," Gon said, "And when Mr. Hitsujikan said you had red eyes, we thought of him."

"We were wondering if you-" I was cut off by Hikaryo's laughter.

"I guess I can't hide it any longer," he said, "but you have to promise not to tell anybody what I'm going to tell you. You promise?" We nodded and he continued, "Yes, I am from the Kurta clan. However, I do not know your friend. He must have been from a different tribe because…" He paused and it almost seemed like he was regretting something. "Because I'm the one that killed my tribe."

He explained to us that it seemed like he was having a dream at the time. He said that a voice spoke to him and he lost all of his senses when his eyes turned scarlet. He said that he burned his village afterwards and he travelled around in the forest for many months. He told us that he was about to give up when the old man found him.

"He took me in," Hikaryo said, "he gave me this mask. He taught me Nen and how to make it a second set of eyes. He didn't ask my name, but gave me a new one. It was a new start for me."


	16. Friendship

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A/N: Believe it or not, this chapter was started the day it's being uploaded.  
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Chapter 15: Friendship

Once Hikaryo left us in our room, I went to the bed and laid down. Gon jumped on top of me and started kissing me. We kissed for a while. It was probably longer than when we had kissed at the hotel, the day Gon decided we were boyfriends. Later, after Gon had stopped kissing me, he had his head resting on my shoulder and his right hand in my left, while his left arm was wrapped around mine.

"Mmm…" He said, getting comfortable, "Killua…"

"Yeah, Gon?" I asked.

"Next time we kiss," he yawned, "can I put my tongue in your mouth?"

"What?"

"Well, the last time I did it, it was really fun."

_Fun for _you_, maybe,_ I thought.

"And, I just thought you'd like it more if we did it more."

"I'll think about it," I said.

"Don't think too hard," he said with sleepy concern.

"Why's that?" I was genuinely curious.

"That's what you always tell me when I say I'll think of something."

I laughed, "That's because you're _you_, Gon. You always think too hard and you hurt yourself. I don't need to worry about anything like that."

"Oh." He said distantly.

I could tell he was paying more attention to his sleepiness than to me and I was fine with that. He always did that when we were talking before bed. I can't remember a day since we met where we didn't talk before bed, either. However, this time, before he finally gave in to his weariness, he probed me for something I wasn't too sure of myself.

"Killua," He asked.

"Yeah?" I responded.

"Earlier, when Mr. Hitsujikan told us he could teach us how to use our Nen as a second set of eyes, you got really mad. Why did you get mad?"

I was silent, trying to think of how to phrase what I was going to say. "Well," I said eventually, "he made you upset. And I don't like it when people make you upset."

"I see," he said as if he hadn't heard what I'd just said, "That's nice."

"I have a question for you, now, Gon." I said, hoping he wouldn't fall asleep before he answered.

"Hm?"

"At dinner, you looked at me and then you laughed. Why did you do that?"

His response was almost instantaneous with my question, "Because I like seeing you smile. You don't do it very often, so when you do, I just have to laugh about it so I can remember it."

"So that's why…"

I trailed off, thinking of all the times Gon just suddenly laughed. Every time that I smiled, Gon had laughed. Last week, I would have thought it was weird, but now, I found it rather sweet. Just another lovable trait about Gon. Of course, I'd never tell Gon about it; I have an image to keep.

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Sometime during the night, I had a sudden urge to get out of bed. I'd never had one of these urges before, so I didn't know what it was about, but something told me to do it and not disturb Gon. Luckily, by that time, Gon had rolled over so it was easy not to disturb him. I got out of bed and dressed and went to the door.

"Killua?" Gon asked, "What are you doing?"

_Shit,_ I thought, _just how light does this kid sleep?_

"I just felt like going for a walk," I said. It wasn't a total lie, but I knew that I couldn't tell him the real reason. I wasn't too sure what the real reason was in the first place.

"Okay," he said, "come back to bed soon. I'll miss you if you're gone for too long."

"I-I'll miss you too, Gon," I said.

"I love you," he said.

I sighed thinking, _God, kid, just let me leave already!_ But saying, "I love you, too, Gon. I'll be back before you know it."

I went back over to the bed and kissed Gon on the forehead. Then I left the room and started walking down the hall, following an unknown feeling. I was thinking of scenarios in my head while I was walking. I was trying to figure out what this feeling could be and what I would do if and when I encountered it.

_What the hell am I doing? _I thought, _I__'__ve never gone on a late night walk before without Gon, so why the hell am I doing it now?_

These questions were constantly running through my head. It got a little distracting when thoughts of the feeling and the questions collided inside of my mind. I paused when I saw a light coming from a slightly open door. Every thought I had up until that moment left me. The only thing I could think of to do was investigate the light. As I got closer, I heard voices.

"Master," it was Hikaryo, "do you really think it was wise to tell those boys that you couldn't train them?"

"Yes, Hikaryo," the old man said, "I do."

"But why, Master?" Hikaryo asked, "You and I both know that you are able to train them. So why did you lie to them?"

"I did not lie, Hikaryo," the old man responded, "I told them the truth. If I were to train those boys, their friendship would be torn apart. One of them would pick it up faster than the other, making the other one jealous. That jealousy would destroy their friendship."

I tried to imagine that situation in my head. I knew that the one that would learn faster was Gon. So that made me the jealous one. But, no matter how I looked at that, it just didn't make sense. Why would me being jealous of Gon break apart our friendship? I've always been jealous of Gon and that hadn't affected anything in our friendship. Unless…

Unless Gon was the jealous one. Jealousy is something Gon isn't that used to. I'm sure he's felt it once in a while, but… No. I decided to push the thoughts away. I kicked the door all the way open. It made a bang on the wall, which startled the two who hadn't sensed my presence.

"That's fucking bullshit, you old geezer!" I yelled as I felt something rolling down my cheek. "There's nothing that can break the bond of friendship that Gon and I share! You hear me?! Nothing!"

I ran down the hall, towards the stairs and out the front door. I didn't stop when I was out of the door; I kept running. I wiped my eyes as I ran. I was crying and I didn't know why. Why had that old geezer's words made me cry? This whole night has just been confusing.

I ran into the forest that was nearby. I still didn't know what that feeling was that had woken me up, but I wasn't in any mood to think about that now. All that mattered to me at that moment was getting away from that house. I needed to think. I needed to be alone. I found a clearing and sat down with my knees against my chest and my head buried in them.

"Stupid fucking old man," I said out loud, though nobody was around to hear me, "Why the fuck did he have to say that? Not once, but twice. Fucking twice! 'One who knows' my ass!" I wiped my eyes again. "And why the fuck am I crying!? I just… don't know. Why the fuck did I even come to this fucking place?"

I buried my face in my knees again. I thought about why I had burst out like that. It didn't make any sense to me. I thought about the old man's words again. He said, 'one of them will be jealous and it will ruin their friendship'. Friendship.

I realized that it was the word 'friendship' that made me so mad at the old man. Though, how it made me mad, I wasn't sure. I tried to think of why when I heard a voice. I lifted my head and called out to see if anybody was out there. I was pretty deep into the forest and it had only been a few minutes since I'd left the house. So, the thought of somebody knowing where I was this soon didn't really make sense to me.

"Ki-llu-a~" The voice called again, "Ki-llu-a~"

"Hello?" I called out, "Who's there?"

"Ki-llu-a~" The voice seemed so familiar, but I couldn't figure out who it belonged to.

"What do you want from me?" I called.

There was a long moment of silence. Then, the voice said, "Ki-llu-a~" and a ghostly figure of Gon appeared before me.

I was startled. I didn't know how Gon had suddenly just appeared in front of me or why he seemed so transparent. My initial reaction was that it was a trick; an illusion, but the Gon figure put his hand on my cheek to wipe away my tears and his touch felt so warm. I leaned into the warmth of Gon's hand.

"Ki-llu-a~" he said, "Why are you crying?"

"I…" I began, "I don't know. I was listening to that old man and he said-"

"Ki-llu-a~" Gon cut me off, "I want you to kill me."

"W-what?" I asked, shocked. Before, when Gon had asked me to kill him, he was angry. But this time, his face was smiling when he said that.

"I mean it this time, Ki-llu-a~" Gon said, "Please, come and kill me."

"I-I don't understand, Gon," I barely managed to say, as it seemed my mouth had instantly dried up.

"I'll be waiting in the room," Gon told me, "at Gakura's house. Please, come and find me. Come and kill me, please." He gave me a kiss and departed with one last "Ki-llu-a~".

I stood up and walked back toward the house. I didn't know if anybody was looking for me, but I didn't care. I opened the front door and walked inside the house. Up the stairs and to the room, my feet were like feathers blowing in the wind. I opened the door to the room and saw the sleeping figure of me best friend. I turned my hand to a claw as Gon was starting to stir.

"Mm…" He said still sleepy, "Killua? What's going on?" He yawned and continued, "I dreamed that I heard this loud noise coming from down the hall. Then I heard you yelling at something." He noticed my hand. "Killua? I something wrong? If there's something wrong, you can tell me."

I raised my hand and struck out at Gon. He managed to dodge, but I still got his shoulder. He was about to say something when I lunged again. He dodged again and his initial reaction was to elbow me in the back. He jumped off the bed and I looked up at his worried face.

"Oh my God, Killua," he said, "I'm so sorry. Did I hit you too hard?"

I jumped at my friend again. He was quick for just having woken up. I swung my arm at him and he ducked then kicked me in the stomach. I staggered back, doubled over in pain. I looked up at my friend and saw his face was less sympathetic this time.

"Killua," he said sternly, "What the hell is going on? Why are you attacking me? Answer me!"

I said nothing. Instead, I just lunged at him. He guarded, expecting an attack for the front, but I snuck behind him and swung my arm at him. I wasn't sure if he dodged or if I missed on purpose, but I just barely managed to scratch his back. He turned around after a second of registering the pain. By this time, most of the older kids had come to our room and were looking on as we fought. I didn't pay them any mind, though, as my focus was Gon.

I lunged at him and he grabbed my arm. I struggled to get free, but Gon's grip was so tight that not even and elephant could get out of it. I looked at his face while I was struggling. His face was a mix of worry, fear, defiance, and sadness. There were tears coming from his eyes.

"Killua," He said through a choked voice, "I don't want to hurt you."

I turned my other hand into a claw and swung it at his face. He easily dodged it. His grip on my other arm tightened. It felt like he was going to break it. I knew that Gon would never do that, though, so I just kept swinging my arm at him while trying to get my other one loose. He kept dodging my attack.

"Killua," Gon pleaded again, "This isn't like you. Now, please. Stop swinging your arm and say this was all one big joke and let's laugh about it. Please!"

I didn't listen. Somewhere, deep inside of my mind, I knew that I should do what Gon wanted. However, the part that knew was so small that it seemed insignificant. I kept swinging my arm. Gon's grip tightened. I knew that he wasn't using any Nen and that if he decided to, my arm would break like nothing.

"Killua," he said once again.

I looked at his face. He was using the eyes. He was actually using those big, brown puppy-dog eyes that I hate so much. He was using the eyes. He was using the eyes… on me. He was doing the one thing that I couldn't stand the most. He was using the eyes on me! The small part of me that knew that what I was doing was wrong, also knew that Gon was out of options.

"Killua," he said while still using the eyes on me, "Please. Stop."

I swung my arm. I felt Gon let some of his Nen into his aura as his grip once again tightened around my arm. I felt the bones in my arm snap. I'm pretty sure that everybody that was there heard them snap. Gon let go of my now-broken arm. I dropped to my knees.

"Killua," He said with tears now streaming down his face, "Please, don't make me hurt you even more. I don't want to do this anymore, Killua. I just want to be with you."

Gon wrapped his arms around my neck. The pain brought me back to my senses. I was confused. I didn't know where I was or what had just happened. All I knew was that Gon was hugging me and he was crying. I was pissed. I saw the kids from earlier staring at us.

"Which one of you assholes hurt my friend?" I yelled at them.

They all turned around and ran away. I thought they were a bunch of pussies, starting something and not finishing it. Gon was still crying. I brought my hand up to his back and gently stroked it. I shushed him in an attempt to make him feel better. He lifted his head from my shoulder and looked me in the eyes.

"Killua!" He said and then he hugged me tighter.

I took his shoulder and pushed it away, looking at his eyes that were now filled with joy. I said to him in a serious tone, "Gon, what happened? Which one of those assholes hurt you? Tell me!"

Gon shook his head, "None of them hurt me, Killua."

"Then why were you crying?" I asked.

Gon looked at me confused, "You were attacking me."

"What?" I said, "That can't be right. I'd never hurt you, Gon."

"But you were!" Gon insisted, "You were attacking me and I broke your arm! I'm sorry!"

"Broke my-?" I noticed my right arm and how it was, indeed, broken. "But.. Why would I…?"

"I was hoping you would tell us."

I turned my head toward the doorway and saw the old man and Hikaryo standing there. They looked like they had just been out in the forest, looking for something. They were out of breath, so they'd obviously been running. My guess was they were running out of the forest because they heard what was going on at the house. They came into the room and shut the door.

"Killua," the old man said, "What's the last thing you remember?"

The question confused me, but I answered, "I remember being on the floor with Gon crying."

"I mean before that."

"I remember laying in bed, talking with Gon."

"You don't remember yelling at us?" Hikaryo asked.

"I-" suddenly, my head started to hurt. I put my good hand up to it and Gon had concern in his voice when he said my name. "I'm fine, Gon," I assured him, "I… I remember now."

I told them about a feeling I had to get out of bed. I said I wasn't sure what the feeling was, but it was too strong to ignore. I told them that I overheard their conversation and I got really mad so I ran into the forest. I told them about how, when I was thinking, I heard a voice. I said that I wasn't sure what happened after that.

"But the next thing I remember," I finished, "is Gon crying."

"That's just like what happened to me all those years ago," Hikaryo said, "Only I remember the horrid details of what happened."

"Enough," the old man said, "Gon, Killua, I think it would be best if you left right after breakfast. On your way, you will have to pass through that same forest. However, I suggest you do not stay the night there. If you do, the same thing may very well happen." We nodded. "Good. Now, let's try and get some sleep."

The old man left and Hikaryo was just about to follow him, when I stopped him. I asked if I could talk with him privately. He nodded and I followed him out of the room, assuring Gon that it would not take long. We walked to an empty room, one of the spare bedrooms, I guessed, and he closed the door. There was silence as he waited to hear what I had to say.

"Hikaryo," I began, "When you heard the voice, did it" I paused, trying to think of how to describe what I had seen in the forest. "Did it have a form?"

"I'm sorry?" He asked, confused.

"Did you see anything speaking to you in the voice that you heard?"

He thought for a while and said, "No. I believe it was just a voice. Why?"

I told him about the ghostly figure of Gon that I saw. He said it was just an illusion. I told him that was my initial reaction and that I had felt the touch of its hand on my face. He seemed surprised by this. He asked me what the figure had said to me.

"'Kill me'," I said, "I pleaded for me to kill Gon."

Hikaryo's face was serious. He thought on my words for a while. He said that the best thing for me to do was to follow the old man's advice. I asked his about if I heard the voice again and he told me to just ignore it. He also said to find a way to distract myself if I couldn't ignore it.

"But most of all," he said, "stay close to Gon." I looked at him in confusion and he explained, "Whatever it was that spoke to you, appeared to you as Gon. It knew that you were alone. It knew that you wouldn't listen to a voice, unless it was Gon's voice. It knew you better than you know yourself. If you are close to Gon, it won't appear to you. It won't talk through Gon's image. If you ever have that feeling like you want to leave Gon, then find a way to ignore it."

"Hikaryo," I asked, "Have you heard the voice since that time?"

Hikaryo was silent. He finally said, "Yes. And I have done exactly as I am telling you now. Do what I have told you and you will be fine. Now, let's take a look at that arm."

He grabbed my arm and lifted it. I felt a tug at my back and remembered my stitches. I asked Hikaryo if he could take a look at those when he was done with my arm. He smiled and agreed. A few minutes later, my arm was full healed, thanks to a bit of Nen Hikaryo had learned for healing, and my stitches were out. Although, there's a big scar where Kitakura had cut me.

I thanked Hikaryo and went back to the room. Gon was sitting up in the bed, looking relieved that I had come back as myself this time. I told him that Hikaryo had healed my arm as I was walking to the bed and Gon was amazed. He apologized again for breaking my arm. I hit him on the head and hugged him.

"I'm the one that should be apologizing, idiot," I said, "I wanted to kill you. All because of a stupid feeling."

"Killua," Gon said, "You said that you got mad when you heard Hikaryo and Mr. Hitsujikan talking. Why?"

I let go of Gon and sat down on the bed. I looked at the floor and said, "They were talking about why the old man wouldn't train us. He said that one of us would learn it faster than the other, making the other one jealous. He said that would tear our friendship apart."

"Bullshit!" Gon exclaimed. I looked at him, surprised by his sudden outburst. "Sorry," he said.

"Oh, no," I said, "That's exactly what I said. That's why I got so mad. Nothing can ever break us apart. Nothing." I gripped my shorts and continued, "I can't lose you, Gon. I just can't."

"Killua…" Gon said.

"You're all I have," I said, "So, I can't lose you."


	17. Competition

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A/N: Sorry. I got pulled into this story again. I blame the new genre: Killugon. It's a genre that sums up Killua's and Gon's relationship. That said, I don't think there's gonna be a new "Killua's World" chapter any time soon because of the new genre: Killugon.  
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Chapter 16: Competition

There was knocking. Knocking that disturbed me from my sleep. I didn't want to think about what that knocking could be. All I wanted to do was sleep. Still, the knocking continued. The knocking stopped and was replaced by another sound: creaking. Then that stopped.

"Gon," a voice called, "Killua," I knew the voice, but couldn't put a face to it, "It's time to get up."

I opened one eye and saw Hikaryo standing just inside the room. He didn't look all that happy for some reason, but I didn't care. I closed my eye and turned, pulling the covers over me. I felt the covers slide off of me, so I pulled them back. They slid off again and I pulled them again. The next time they tried to slide off, I held on. I could feel the covers trying to escape my grasp, but I wouldn't let them. However, after a strong pull, they came off and I heard a rather loud thump on the floor that I had to investigate.

I sat up and looked over to where Gon was supposed to be. He wasn't there. I looked over to Hikaryo, who was trying to hold in a laugh. I wasn't sure why he was laughing, but I decided to ignore it. I crawled over to Gon's side of the bed and looked over the edge. There, I found Gon rolled up in the covers and sleeping as if he were still in bed.

"Oi, Gon," I said.

He didn't answer.

"Gon," I said louder.

Still no answer.

"Hey, dumbass!" I threw a pillow at him, "Wake up!"

The pillow hit him and he woke up. But it was only for a brief instant where he grabbed the pillow and put it under his head. He then went back to sleep. I threw another pillow at him, and he caught it. He then threw the pillow back at me. I was surprised that he had caught the pillow that I didn't react to it coming back and it hit me in the face.

_That little faker_, I thought.

I grabbed the pillow from my lap and stood up on the bed quietly, to get a better angle. I then threw the pillow down and hit him on the head. Bull's eye! Gon sat up and threw the first pillow back at me. It caught me off guard and I fell back onto the bed.

He then jumped onto the bed and stood over me with a pillow, ready to throw it down onto my face. However, I tripped him and he fell onto the bed. I then took one of the pillows and pressed it to his face, waiting for him to say mercy. He kicked his legs and flailed his arms while I was pushing the pillow onto his face. It was a few seconds later that he stopped.

I didn't let up, thinking it was a trick. However, he did nothing. I took the pillow away from his face, worried that I might have done the unthinkable, and leaned my ear close to his mouth. I didn't hear anything. I put my lips to his and started breathing into his mouth. I took my lips away and put my ear to his mouth once again. Nothing. I went in again, pressing my lips firmly against his and breathing. Again, I took my lips away and put my ear to his mouth so that I could hear. But I heard nothing.

I was frantic. I put my lips against his one more time and breathed hard into his mouth. Once more, I took my lips away and put my ear to his mouth. This time I heard something. It wasn't the sound I was expecting to hear, though. It was… It was laughter. Gon was laughing. It was only then that I realized that he had tricked me to get a few free kisses in. I blushed and hit him with the pillow.

"You idiot!" I said while hitting him, "You had me worried sick!"

Hikaryo cleared his throat and we both looked at him. He seemed to be in a better mood than he was earlier. I had forgotten he was there, to be honest. I was just so caught up in the pillow fight. However, Hikaryo clearing his throat didn't stop me from hitting Gon with the pillow.

"If you're done playing, boys," Hikaryo said, "Breakfast is ready."

Gon nearly jumped off the bed in one leap. He would have done it, too, if I hadn't thrown the pillow at the back of his head when he made the first jump. After the pillow hit, he fell back onto the bed. He glared at me and I just laughed. He threw the pillow back at my face and it landed in my lap.

By the time the pillow fell down to my lap, Gon was by the door. He pulled the skin underneath one of his eyes down and stuck his tongue out at me. He ran off and I scrambled off of the bed to chase after him. I caught up to him and jump-tackled him. Unfortunately, he was right by the stairs when I did that, so we both went tumbling down the stairs. If I was to describe the impact at the bottom, I'd say it was a crash mixed with a bang. At least, that's how it felt.

I was laying on my back at the bottom of the stairs. I lifted my head up and saw that my legs were on the second stair from the bottom and Gon was in between my legs, laying on me. He didn't look too damaged from the fall, which was a good thing, but I was hurting all over. The fall had gone by so fast that I barely had time to register it all. I think what happened was, as we were falling, I had turned to protect Gon and I ended up taking most of the impacts with the stairs. I laid my head back down, as my neck was sore and closed my eyes.

I felt something on my forehead and opened my eyes again. Gon was staring right into my eyes, smiling. I would have pushed him off of me, but there were two things that stopped me. The first was that my arms were too sore to lift and the second was that Gon was holding onto them. He pressed his lips to mine and I felt his tongue in my mouth. I tried to get my arms loose, but he didn't loosen his grip. My eyes darted over to the doorway of the dining room, where I saw practically the entire household just staring at us. Some of the older kids had covered the younger kids' eyes with their hands.

I struggled again to get my arms free, but it was no use. Gon had learned his lesson from the last time he did this so he didn't let go. I could feel his tongue in my mouth, reaching and exploring each cheek and rubbing against my teeth. He licked my tongue, I'm guessing he was trying to force it into his mouth but I wouldn't let it leave its spot in my mouth. It was a couple minutes later that he had broken the kiss with a satisfied 'ah', as if he had just had a drink of juice or something. He smiled at me and I blushed.

"You idiot," I said, "There were people watching."

"So?" Gon said. He looked over to the doorway of the dining room and then back at me. "I don't think they mind if we kiss. Do you?"

We both looked over to the dining room entry and everybody standing there were shaking their heads. Gon looked at me with a big grin on his face as if he was saying 'see? I told you they didn't mind.' I tried again to get my arms free, but Gon just wouldn't let go. He put his forehead against mine again and looked into my eyes. His eyes were so kind and gentle that I could almost feel tears coming on.

"Killua," he said while still smiling, "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not crying!" I said, closing my eyes and turning my head, "Now get off."

Gon didn't move.

I looked into his eyes again and said, "Didn't you hear me, Gon? I said get off."

"I heard you," Gon said.

"Then why aren't you getting off?"

"Because you didn't say 'please'." His smile widened.

I sighed, "Please get off."

"Mmm…" Gon thought, "No."

"What?" I said, "Why not?"

"Because I just want to lay on you like this forever, Killua." He rested his head on my shoulder and I sighed again.

"Alright." I said, seeming content, "But could at least let go of my arms? They're starting to hurt."

Gon lifted his head and said, "I'm sorry," while lifting his hands off of my arms.

I hit him on the head and pushed him off of me. He looked at me with that pouting face. I hit him on the head again. He asked why I hit him twice. I told him I just felt like it. It wasn't really that far from the truth, anyway.

I stood up and saw that he was still pouting. I sighed and said, "I'll race you to the table."

He immediately perked up and scrambled to get up. I started to run as soon as I saw Gon getting up. In no time at all, he had caught up to me. We were side by side trying to get through the crowd of people at the doorway. I pushed him away and he pushed back. When we reached the table, we touched it at the same time.

"I win!" We both exclaimed. We then looked at each other.

"Eh?" I said, "What are you talking about? I won!"

"Nu-uh!" Gon argued, "I won because I touched the table first!"

"No," I countered, "I touched it first!"

"I did!" Gon said pushing his head up against mine, "You cheated!"

"How did I cheat?" I said pushing back.

"You started running before I even got up!" He pushed back.

"I gave you enough time to get your stupid ass off the floor!" I pushed.

"That's enough, boys!" I turned my head and saw the old man standing at the other end of the table, "Enough arguing and sit down!"

We pulled our chairs out and sat down. Hikaryo brought out some big plates full of food. One of the older kids that didn't witness our moment earlier helped and soon, there was enough food to feed ten of every person in the house. Gon and I helped ourselves to about a third of the food on the table and started to eat. I hadn't noticed how hungry I was until I started eating.

I noticed Gon was eating at the same pace as me, so I decided to eat faster. Gon saw that I was eating faster, so he started to eat faster than me. When I saw him eating faster than me, I picked up my eating pace to beat his. Pretty soon, Gon and I were on seconds. Gon was just a little bit ahead of me so I picked up the pace again.

When we asked for more, we were told there wasn't any more. I naturally said that I had won our little eating competition. Gon naturally argued my obvious victory. We got into another debate about who was right and who was wrong. Hikaryo sent us upstairs to get our stuff while we were still arguing and we jumped off of our chairs and started running to the stairs. Gon was keeping up with my pace so, right after the doorway to the dining room, I tripped him and he fell on his face.

"Hey!" I heard him call from behind, "No fair, Killua!"

"That's what I call 'tough luck', Gon!" I called back.

A few seconds later, as I was starting to climb the stairs, I felt a tug on my shirt collar. I fell backwards and noticed a smiling Gon running past me. I quickly reached out and grabbed his arm. We both fell back down to the bottom of the stairs. My head hit the floor harder than it did the last time and Gon's head hit directly on my chest, knocking the breath out of me. He lifted his head and noticed I was struggling to breathe.

"Killua?" He asked, "Wh-what's wrong? Killua, are you alright?"

"Y-yeah," I said still struggling to breathe, "Just a little winded is all."

Gon sighed in relief. He then looked at me with a fire in his eyes and said, "I'll race you to the top."

He got up and started to climb the stairs when I grabbed his leg. He fell down and hit his face on the stairs. He looked at me with defiance, as it was a cheap move, even for me to make. But his eyes softened when he saw that I was still struggling to breathe. He asked me what was wrong and I gave a weak smile.

"I don't think," I said through heavy gasps, "that I could race you up the stairs." I gave a weak laugh. "At least, not just yet."

Gon looked a little disappointed. As much as he loved a challenge, he was never very happy when the challenge was taken away from him. He came back down the stairs and put my left arm over his shoulders, as I was holding my chest with my right. He lifted me up and we both walked up the stairs and to the room.

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Out in the front yard, everybody had come to se us off. The old man reminded us not to spend the night in the forest. He warned us to get out of the forest by nightfall or else something like what had happened last night might happen again. We thanked them all and left towards the forest. I didn't want to go back in there, but I had no choice.

We walked through the forest for a while. It seemed like we were lost, but I put the thought aside. After all, Gon had grown up in forests like this one so he should be able to find his way through it no problem. Gon stopped and I bumped into him. It wasn't like Gon to just stop like that.

"Oi, Gon," I said, "What's the deal? Why'd you stop all of a sudden?"

"That tree," Gon said, pointing to a tree, "We've passed it before."

"Are you serious?" I said, looking at the tree he was pointing to? "It looks just like every other tree in this damn forest. How can you be so sure we've passed it?"

"That mark," he said.

I looked at the tree and didn't see anything. I hit him on the head and said, "Quit it with the cryptic talk! I don't see anything on the tree."

Gon blinked, staring at the tree once again. "But… But I saw it just a second ago!"

"Whatever," I said while starting to walk ahead, "Let's just keep moving."

"Ki-llu-a~"

I looked back and said, "Huh?"

Gon looked at me blankly and said, "What?"

"What do you mean 'what?'" I said, "You said something, didn't you?"

Gon shook his head, "No. I never said anything."

I turned around and started walking again saying, "Alright."

"Ki-llu-a~"

I looked back again and said, "What?"

Gon looked at me blankly again and said, "What 'what?'"

"What do you want?" I said annoyed.

Gon looked at me confused. He said, "Um… A kiss? I don't know."

I walked over to Gon and gave him a kiss. I turned back again and said, "There. I kissed you. Now will you stop saying my name?"

"Um… Okay?" Gon said confused.

"Ki-llu-a~"

I turned around and glared at Gon and said, "I swear to God, Gon, you better stop fucking with me!"

"What do you mean, Killua?" Gon said defensively, "I'm not doing anything! Honest!"

"Ki-llu-a~"

Gon's lips weren't moving. He really wasn't doing anything. I wondered what was saying my name, if it wasn't Gon. I thought back to last night. I remembered seeing an image of something that said my name. The image looked just like Gon. I walked back to Gon, grabbed his arm and started walking again.

"Ah," Gon said, "Killua! What's going on?"

"I'm hearing it, Gon," I said, my eyes darting every which way for that ghostly image.

"Hearing what?" Gon wondered as he tried to keep up with my pace.

"That fucking voice!" I said, picking up speed, "That stupid fucking voice that told me to kill you!"

Gon got more serious because he said, "Which way is it coming from?"

"What?" I asked.

"Which way is it coming from?" Gon said, "I'll find whoever it is and I'll fucking murder them!"

I stopped. I looked at Gon, shocked and surprised. I could tell that Gon was mad, but I've never seen him this mad. Was it because of me? Was he so enraged that someone or something had taken control of his best friend that he would actually resort to swearing and using the word 'murder'? I hit him on the head.

"Ow!" He said, "What was that for?"

"To bring you back to your senses," I said.

"Ki-Killua," He said, "You're crying."

I wiped my eyes and said, "I'm not crying, Gon! I just have something in my eye."

"Bullshit, Killua!" He hugged me and whispered in my ear, "I'm sorry that I made you cry."

I hugged him back and said, "Idiot. I told you I wasn't crying."

"Ki-llu-a~"

I let go of Gon, practically pushing him away, and got in a fighting stance. I wasn't sure if Gon had heard it that time or if he was just mimicking me, because he got in a stance as well. We stood there for a few minutes. My eyes looked in every direction for that sickening figure that twisted my mind the previous night. It was nowhere to be seen so I grabbed Gon's arm again and started walking.

Gon said nothing this time. We walked for a while, but it seemed like the forest was never ending. I didn't understand what was going on. I knew we had gone a ways into the forest and the old man said that we could get out of it by nightfall. Gon tapped my shoulder, taking me out of my thoughts.

I stopped and looked at him and said, "What is it?"

"It's that tree again," He said, pointing to a tree.

I looked at it and said, "Gon, it looks like every other tree. How can you be so sure that it's the same one?"

"I just know, Killua," He said, looking at me defiantly, "I know we've passed this tree before and I can't prove it. You just have to trust me."

I looked at him for a while before sighing, "Alright, Gon. You win. What do you propose we do?"

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A/N: By the way, there's one scene in particualr that I find to be the most perfect scene I have ever written. Try and figure it out. I'll put the answer in an Author's Note next chapter.  
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	18. The Voice

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A/N: It's Trivia Time! Last chapter, I asked, "What was the perfect scene that I had written in the chapter?" Was it: "A) The pillow fight" "B) The bottom of the stairs" "C) Breakfast" or "D) the hug in the forest"? Stay tuned for the answer at the end of the chapter. Also, things get a little... "intense" near the end of the chapter. Still T, though! Just making that clear.  
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Chapter 17: The Voice

"Alright, Gon. You win. What do you propose we do?"

Gon looked at me blankly. I stared at him expecting an answer. He had to have a plan. Otherwise he wouldn't have told me to trust him. The silence between us lasted a couple minutes, where we just stared at each other.

"Come on, Gon," I said, "You have a plan, right?"

He looked away shyly. He let out a nervous laugh and said, "Not really. I was hoping you would come up with a plan."

"Idiot!" I said while hitting him on the head, "I can't always come up with the plans!"

"I know, but you're so good at it."

"Ki-llu-a~"

I turned to where I heard it. Gon wondered what I was doing. I told him to stay quiet for a little bit. I knew he wouldn't like that very much, since he didn't like it when people told him to be quiet. But since it was me asking, he did so. I listened for the voice again.

"Ki-llu-a~"

I ran off into the forest. Gon ran after me, telling me to stop. He told me not to go in the direction I was going and some other cliché lines. I didn't pay any attention to what he was saying and just kept running. I stopped at a clearing and Gon finally caught up to me and tackled me to the ground.

"What are you doing, Gon?" I yelled, "Get off me!"

Gon stood up and said, "Sorry, Killua. I just wasn't sure if you were possessed again."

"Don't be ridiculous, Gon," I said while getting up, "I don't get possessed that easily."

"Ki-llu-a~"

That voice was really getting on my nerves. I needed to find the source of it and take care of it. I stepped into the clearing so I could hear the direction the voice was coming from better. Gon asked what I was doing and I shushed him. Gon hit me on the head.

"Ow!" I said turning around and hitting him on the head, "What was that for?"

"Sorry, Killua," he said, "I just lashed out of reflex."

"Reflex?" I questioned, "So if your Aunt Mito tells you to be quiet, you hit her?"

He thought about that. He seemed to be at a loss for words. It looked like I had posed the hardest question in the world. He brought his hand up to his chin after a few seconds of just thinking. I had to admit, he looked kind of cute when he was deep in though. It made me smile.

He noticed I was smiling and stopped thinking, "Killua?" He asked, "What's wrong? Why are you smiling?"

I looked away. "Nothing," I said, "Nothing's wrong, Gon."

"Ki-llu-a~"

Every time I heard that voice, I cringed. It was annoying. It was grating. It was tearing my nerves apart one by one. I was about ready to snap. Yet, as much as I hated the voice, a part of me loved to hear it. A part of me wanted to hear that same, sweet voice calling my name over and over again. But I had to remind that part of me that it was not the same.

"Killua," Gon said, suddenly serious.

"Huh?" I said, just coming out of my thoughts, "What? What? What's wrong Gon?"

"I know what you're doing, Killua," Gon said.

"And what's that?" I said, feigning ignorance.

"You're trying to find where that voice you've been hearing is coming from," Gon said, "I know you don't want me to get hurt or do anything rash, but I still want to come."

I sighed and said, "You're impossible, Gon. You know I couldn't stop you even if I didn't want you to come."

Gon's face brightened. "You mean…"

"Hey," I said smiling, "We're a team. We'll find this voice and deal with it together!"

"Yeah!" Gon raised a fist in the air.

"Ki-llu-a~"

I looked in the direction of where I heard the voice. It was definitely getting closer. However, I wasn't sure if it was because I was going towards it or if it was coming towards me. I couldn't see anything so I figured it was still a ways away. I looked at Gon and he nodded.

"It's this way," I said, "Let's go."

We walked into the trees again. This time, following the voice when it called to me. We made several turns that I didn't know which direction we were going anymore. It didn't help that all the trees looked exactly the same to me. If we were ever going to make it back after this, we'd have to rely on Gon's instincts.

"Ki-llu-a~"

It was getting louder with each step we took. I wasn't sure how long I could keep my rage suppressed. I had to find this thing to be sure it wouldn't bother me again. While we were walking, I looked up to the sky. I noticed that the sun was getting lower and lower, almost behind the trees.

"This is bad," I said.

"Huh?" Gon asked, "Why?"

"It's getting dark," I said, "Remember what the old man said? About how we should be out of the forest by dark?"

"Hmm…" Gon thought, "Maybe it's a good thing."

"What?" I said.

"Well," Gon began, "last time you heard the voice it was a night, right? So, maybe whatever it belongs to only shows itself at night?"

"Yeah," I said, "I guess that could be it. But what makes you so sure?"

"I don't know," Gon said, shrugging his shoulders, "Just a hunch."

I've learned from experience that Gon's hunches were usually correct. So, I'd learned to trust in them. In fact, I was worried when he didn't have any hunches. His hunches were pretty much the only thing I relied on. Aside from my own instincts, of course.

"KILLUA!" Gon yelled. He pulled my arm and I fell and landed on my butt.

I got up, hit him on the head and said, "What did you do that for, idiot!?"

He looked at me with sad eyes and said, "You were about to step on something between those two trees."

"What?" I asked turning around to look where I was about to step.

The trees were close together. Any other time, I would've noticed how close they were to each other. I should have been more aware of my surroundings. I crouched down to examine the ground between the trees. Illumi wouldn't have been happy of how careless I was. I pushed the thought aside.

_Who cares about stupid old Illumi, anyway?_ I thought.

I ran my finger just a few inches above the ground and noticed that there was a thin string pulled tight. "A trip wire," I said, "We must be getting close to whatever it is if they'd go through the trouble of setting up traps." I stood up and continued, "From now on, we need to be careful where we step. We don't know what kind of traps they've set up and we don't know where they're set up."

"How do we know there are more traps?" Gon asked.

"If they wanted to keep people away," I said, "They wouldn't set up just one trap. They're not always gonna be easy to spot, either. So, keep close to me and we'll avoid all the traps."

"But you just said we don't know where they all are," Gon said, "How are gonna-"

I cut him off just by looking at him. "You just have to trust me," I said, smiling.

He looked at me with curious eyes. He then laughed, picturing my smile. It made me feel good to know that he was doing that. It made me want to smile some more, just to hear that laugh. I knew what the next words out of Gon's mouth would be before he even said them.

"OK, Killua," he said, "I trust you."

We started walking again. I was doing my best to try and figure out where all the traps could be. However, with the darkness caused by the setting sun growing around the surrounding area, it became increasingly difficult. I knew that I wasn't going to be of much use when the sun was fully set, but I also knew that Gon's instincts would help us then. So long as I had Gon, I knew that I was going to be just fine.

"You know, Gon," I said.

"Hm?" I could feel his eyes on me.

"I could still be under the influence of that voice," I reasoned, "I could be leading you into a trap."

I couldn't see, but I imagined he shook his head because he said, "No. I know you're not leading me into a trap."

"And how's that?"

"Because you're never this calm when you are leading me into a trap."

"How would you know? I've never led you into a trap before!"

Gon just laughed. He said, "And you never will. I know that, Killua."

I couldn't argue. Sometimes I wondered how he knew me so well, even though we've only known each other for a short time. Then I remembered. I remembered the reason why he knew me so well. It was because he made me. He made me into who I was.

We walked in silence. The sun had almost fully set. Darkness was covering the forest. I told Gon to stay very close and I did my best to point out where more traps could be set up. I paid close attention to the sound of our footsteps on the ground. At one point, I only heard mine. I stopped walking.

"You're being awfully quiet, Gon," I said, turning around, "It's not like you to just stop and not say anythi-" I stopped myself because Gon wasn't there. "Gon?" I turned around where I stood, hoping for some sign of him. "Gon. Gon, if you can hear me, come out." No answer. "Gon, if this is some sort of joke, then it isn't funny." Still, no answer, "I swear to God Gon, if you don't come out right now I'm going to hit you so hard-"

"Ki-llu-a~"

I turned around to where I heard the voice. I saw a light coming from the direction. It was a strange light. Like what I had seen the previous night when I saw the image of Gon. I walked toward the light while the voice was calling out to me. The sound of the voice was definitely getting louder.

"Ki-llu-a~" I stepped into the clearing, shielding my eyes from the light and it said, "You came! I'm so happy."

I couldn't really see at first, but then the light dimmed. I was surprised with what I saw. It was Gon, sitting on a tree branch on the other side of the clearing in only his underwear. I didn't know what to think of it. Were my eyes playing tricks on me? How did he get over there? Where were his clothes? Where was that light coming from?

I wanted to ask those questions, but all I could say was, "G-Gon?"

Gon nodded his head and he jumped down off of the tree branch. He came towards me and said, "Ne, Killua, let's play a game."

"A… game?" I asked, "Here? Now?"

Gon nodded.

"Shouldn't you get some clothes on first?"

"Why do I need clothes?"

"So we can play this 'game' of yours , of course!"

"Oh!" He said, "But the game we're playing doesn't involve clothes."

"What?"

He nodded and said, "Mm. In this game, you start running and I tackle you. Then we roll around to see who's on top for when we make love!"

"Make _what?!_"

"Make love," he said, "You know, have sex."

"I know what it means, you idiot!" I said, "I just don't know-"

"You don't know if you want to have sex with me?" He asked, giving me the puppy dog eyes.

I couldn't answer. He was giving me the puppy dog eyes and yet, for some reason, I didn't feel forced to do his will. It was strange. I had to wonder if this was indeed my best friend or just that sickening ghostly figure from last night. This Gon didn't seem ghostly, but there were still doubts in my mind.

"Ne, Killua," Gon said, "Will you play the game? Please? It would really mean a lot to me if you did."

My mind was racing as he got closer to me. I still didn't know if this was Gon or not. I had to make a choice: Do I give in to this Gon's desires? Or do I go back and try to find the Gon that I knew? What if this was the Gon that I knew? I'd be turning away from the person that I cared most about.

I made a choice. I wouldn't play the game. I'd go back and look for the Gon that I knew; the Gon that I loved. I turned and started walking the opposite direction, when I felt a tug at my arm. I looked toward the one holding it and I froze. The eyes that the one now wore dug deep into my soul and tore it apart. The big, brown puppy dog eyes that could make the strongest of men give in to the demands of one so small.

"Ne, Killua," he said leaning his head against my arm, "let's play the game, alright?"

"A-alright," I said.

He looked up at me with glee showing in his eyes. Pure joy. He was so excited that I figured he'd start jumping up and down while still holding on to my arm. He didn't do that, fortunately, but instead, he leaned up and gave me a kiss. He then let go of my arm and told me to start running around the clearing.

It was a big clearing, so there was a lot of room to move around. However, there were a lot of obstacles to dodge, as well. Some tree roots were sticking up from the ground and some tree branches were hanging low. I ducked the low hanging tree branches and dodged the roots. I looked behind me occasionally and saw that Gon was almost on me.

I tried to speed up, but I felt my feet leave the ground because of some force that pushed me forward. I landed on my stomach and started to roll immediately after I landed, taking Gon with me. We rolled on the grass, each trying to get the upper hand on the other, until we hit a tree. I was laying on my back, looking up at Gon, who was smiling. However, it wasn't a smile I'd ever seen on his face before. I didn't know why, but it didn't seem to belong on his face.

As soon as he saw he was on top of me, he leaned his head down and put his lips to mine. His lips moved on mine, as if trying to find a better position, and he took my right shirt sleeve and started pulling it off. Once my right arm was out, he moved on to the left. He then put his hands underneath my shirt and started to lift it up my body, feeling every part of on the way up. He broke the kiss just to get my shirt over my head.

He put his lips against mine and when he had found a good position, I felt his tongue in my mouth. It reached over to my right cheek, feeling every tooth along the way, and licked it fiercely. It felt like his tongue was scratching the inside of my cheek. His tongue moved back along my teeth to my left cheek. Once it reached, it started licking my cheek just as fiercely as it had my right. He then moved his tongued back across my teeth and started licking my upper pallet as fiercely as he had my cheeks. He then started to lick my tongue. All the while, I couldn't help but feel that his tongue was foreign to my mouth.

At the same time as he was kissing me, his hands were bringing down my pants with my underwear. Soon, I was naked on the forest floor, with an almost naked Gon on top of me. The ground was cold against my bare skin, but I barely had time to register it before Gon had broken the kiss on my lips and started to move on to my body. He kissed me on my right cheek and started to work his way down onto my neck. He kissed my Adam's Apple and went lower onto my chest.

He took his time on my chest. First, he kissed my shoulder blades on the left and then made his way back over to the right before moving back, getting lower with each pass. Finally, he reached my left nipple. I felt the moistness of his mouth on my skin as he began to suck on it and lick it at the same time. Up until that point, I didn't feel anything, but when his mouth covered my nipple, I had to let something out. I didn't know what it was, as that sound had never come out of my mouth before.

When he was satisfied with my left nipple, he kissed his way over to my right and did the same thing. I let out that sound again. While I admit that it felt good what Gon was doing, a part of me kept screaming that it was wrong. That I should just push Gon off of me, grab my clothes and run away as fast as I could. But I couldn't move. I wasn't sure what it was that kept me on the ground, but I couldn't get up.

Gon, satisfied with my right nipple, made his way down my chest. He reached my belly and started to kiss it like he did my chest. When he reached my belly button, he licked it all around before kissing and sucking on it. Again, the thoughts were screaming at me to do something to stop this madness before it had gotten too far. The other part of me asked what was too far. The first part made me realize that the next stop on Gon's journey over my body was too far.

"G-Gon," I finally managed to say, "s-stop. Please."

"Eh?" Gon said, looking up at me, "But this is what you want. Ne, Killua?"

"Yes," I said. I realized what I had said, then added quickly, "N-no! No! This isn't what I want! You have to stop! Now!"

Gon crawled up my body to look me in the eyes. His eyes seemed different somehow. I couldn't exactly place it, but they were darker. They didn't have much color to them and there was something in them that I had never seen before. Much like the smile, they didn't seem to belong on the face of my best friend.

Gon chuckled and said, "You can't fool me, Killua. I know this is what you want. Because I want this too."

He started to make his way down again, but I said, "Stop! Please! Gon! You have to listen to me! I don't want this. I've never wanted this! I.. I just wanted to be with you."

I closed my eyes and laid my head back down on the ground as tears rolled down the side of my face and onto the ground. I couldn't move. I was helpless, defenceless against my best friend who was about to go too far. I braced myself for the moistness that would surround a part of me that I would never want. Then, everything changed.

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A/N: ... ... I think I'll just give the answer without the game show-style to ruin the mood of the chapter. Okay? Okay. The answer was the pillow fight. Starting right from the beginning of the chapter and ending with their tumble down the stairs.  
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	19. The Truth

Chapter 18: The Truth

"G-Gon," I said, "s-stop. Please."

"Eh?" Gon said, looking up at me, "But this is what you want. Ne, Killua?"

"Yes," I said, but realizing what I had just said, I lifted my head and added quickly, "N-no! No! This isn't what I want! You have to stop! Now!"

Gon crawled up my naked body and looked me in the eyes. They weren't the eyes I was used to looking in to. They were darker, with less color to them and a look that didn't belong in them. They smiled at me and it seemed like there was another presence in them. I didn't want to look in them, but I couldn't look away.

Gon chuckled and said, "You can't fool me, Killua. I know this is what you want. Because I want this, too."

He gave me a kiss and then crawled back down my body to my navel while I protested, "Stop! Please! Gon! You have to listen to me! I don't want this. I never wanted this! I… I just wanted to be with you."

I put my head back down on the ground because my neck was getting sore. Tears started to roll down the side of my face and make the ground wet. I wanted to do something to stop this. This wasn't supposed to be happening. I had to stop it, but I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything that would stop my best friend from going too far. I braced myself for moistness to surround a part of my body that I would never want surrounded.

"Get away from him, you bitch! Jan…Ken…"

With one Nen-enforced punch to the face, the Gon that was on top of me flew away and smashed into a tree. I opened my eyes to see another Gon standing above me, breathing heavily. He wasn't looking at me, though, so I followed his gaze and noticed that the tree where the other Gon had crashed into had broken and stirred up a dust cloud. I was confused about which Gon was the real one.

"If you EVER touch my Killua again," the Gon standing over me threatened, "I promise you that I will break your fucking arms!" He looked at me and said, "Killua, let's go."

He grabbed my right arm and pulled me up. He then started to pull me in a direction the led away from the broken tree. I felt a tug on my other arm and I looked over to see who it was. The other Gon was looking at me, as he had before our little 'game'. The Gon on my right must have felt the sudden stop as he let go of me, grabbed both arms of the other Gon and twisted them so hard that I actually heard the snapping of the shoulders. The Gon with working arms grabbed mine again and started to pull me in the same direction as before.

"G-Gon" I stammered, trying to keep up with his pace, "What about my clothes?"

"Leave them," Gon said, "You've got other clothes in your backpack at the last clearing."

It was true. We had left our backpacks at the clearing where Gon had tackled me. We left them there as a marking for when we made our way back. Only the real Gon could have known that. Suddenly, a new feeling filled me up: guilt.

"Gon," I said, "Are you mad at me because of what was happening back there?"

"No, Killua," he said in a softer tone, "I'm mad at that fucking impostor for doing what he was doing to you."

He led me back through the forest, making sure to avoid all the traps I had pointed out to him. The wind was cold against my skin. No one said anything the whole way back so my mind wandered. I thought about what that Gon back at the clearing actually was. He had said that I wanted what he was doing.

Was that true? Did I really want that from Gon? If it was true, then how could he have known that? Was there some way he could see into me? I wasn't sure. If it really was what I wanted, then was it something in my heart or something in my mind? I couldn't be too sure on that either.

And the other thing he said bothered me, as well. He said that he had wanted it. I'm pretty sure he was speaking for Gon, but how could he have known that? If he had an ability to see into me, did he use it on Gon as well? Or was he just saying something that I had wanted to hear?

"Hey, Gon," I began.

I wanted to ask him about why he wasn't mad at me. I wanted to ask him if what the other Gon had said was true. But when he looked back at me with those big, brown smiling eyes, I couldn't find the words. He seemed like he had already forgotten what had just happened. How he managed to do that always amazed me.

"Uh," I said, "What happened to you?"

"Huh?" Gon asked, "What do you mean?"

"Before," I explained, "I looked back and you weren't there. What happened?"

"Oh," he looked away shyly and continued, "I… uh… fell down."

"Fell down?" I questioned.

"One of the traps." he admitted.

"That I pointed out to you?"

"Yeah."

I hit him on the head with my free arm and said, "Idiot!"

"Ow!" He said, "It's not my fault, Killua! Right after you said it was there, I fell into it. I didn't have any time to react!"

"Uh-huh," I said, disbelieving, "Then what?"

"Huh?" He said.

"Do I have to explain everything to you?" I practically yelled, "What happened after you fell down?"

"Oh, right." He said, "Well, after I fell, I landed on my butt and that hurt. Then I tried to climb out, but the hole was really deep. So then I thought about using my fishing rod, like before, but I remembered it was with my backpack at the clearing. And so then I…"

Gon continued his long explanation and I couldn't help but smile. He was completely oblivious to my smile, as he was so engrossed in his story. I liked listening to his stories because they gave me an excuse just to listen to his voice. To me, whenever he speaks, it's like I'm listening to a choir of angels. It probably wasn't that far from the truth because, at times, I thought Gon really was an angel.

"Ki-llu-a~"

That voice. I thought after what had just happened, I wouldn't ever hear that voice again. It said my name three more times, each time with more affection. As it kept saying my name, I kept picturing that other Gon as if it was him saying my name. I tried to concentrate on the real Gon's voice telling his story, but the other voice got louder the more I tried.

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, pulling my arm away from Gon's grasp and bringing both my hands to my head to cover my ears.

"Eh?" Gon said, "But you asked me what happened."

"Ki-llu-a~, Ki-llu-a~. Ki-llu-a~, Ki-llu-a~."

"JUST SHUT UP! GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!"

I knelt down on the ground as the voice constantly pounded my brain with my name over and over again. I kept screaming out for it to stop, but it just got louder. I started to shake my head, begging for the voice to shut up. I was about to start rolling on the ground, when Gon hugged me. His grip was so tight, it was as if he was holding on for dear life. I felt something wet on my shoulder. Gon was crying. Why was he crying?

The voice stopped after I had registered that Gon was crying. I said, "G-Gon, why are you crying?"

"I'm scared, Killua," he said.

"Scared?" I asked, "Of what?"

"Of whatever it was that was happening," he said, "You looked like you were in so much pain. I was afraid I was going to lose you to that voice again."

I took my hands away from my head and slipped them underneath Gon's arms. I retuned his hug, but not as tight. I reassured him that he would never lose me, ever. His grip only tightened. It was clear that he wasn't going to let go any time soon and that was just fine with me.

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The first thing I did when we got back to the clearing where we had left our backpacks was get some clothes out. It was colder than it seemed without clothes. It had taken a little while to get back, as well, because Gon kept getting us lost. Whenever we reached a splitting path, Gon had always insisted it was the wrong path. I insisted we take the other one and it always turned out to be the right one.

Once I was dressed, I told Gon that we needed to get out of the forest soon. He agreed and reminded me of the tree. I was confused at first, but when he explained it was the tree that he insisted we passed a few times, I remembered. I told him we'd find a different way out. When he asked which way, I pointed to a direction that didn't lead back to the tree or to the other clearing.

Before we left the clearing, I transformed my hand into a claw and marked a tree just to be sure we would never pass by again. We headed off in the direction I had said and we walked for some time. I couldn't be sure how long it had been because I had lost all sense of time after the sun had gone down. We walked up to a clearing to take a break and I noticed the mark I had left on the tree. I wasn't sure how it was possible because I was sure we had gone in a relatively straight line, only making a few turns - none of which I felt led back in the direction of the clearing.

"I'm starting to see what you were talking about, Gon," I said.

"Huh?" He asked.

"About the tree," I said, "and how we passed it."

"Oh." He realized.

"I think this forest is fucking with us."

"Ki-llu-a~"

The other Gon suddenly walked out of the trees and into the clearing, still in his underwear. Gon and I both stood and got into ready stances. We weren't sure what this person was capable of. Or even if it was a person, for that matter. I remembered how it asked me to kill Gon and how it almost had its way with me. I was pissed.

"Ne, Killua," the other Gon said, "Why did you leave when I was about to pleasure your-"

"What the fuck are you!?" I shouted at it, cutting it off.

"Eh?" It said, looking both offended and surprised, "I'm Gon."

"Bullshit!" Gon and I both shouted at the same time.

"It's true!" The other Gon defended, "I'm the Gon of Killua's deepest desires. Ne, Killua?"

"No!" I shouted, "That's not true! I would never want Gon to do…_that_!"

"Ne, Killua," the other Gon said, "you shouldn't lie. You know I can see through them."

"Just shut up!" I argued, "You're not Gon! Tell me who or what you really are now and then maybe I won't slit your fucking throat."

"I already said, I'm the Gon of your deepest desires. I am a child of the forest, created when you first entered. My only purpose is to have you."

"The fuck does that mean?" I said.

"It means," the so-called 'Gon of my desires' said, "that you are destined to stay in this forest with me. We can stay young and make lots of love forever. That is what you want. So, you will leave this one and come stay with me. Ne, Killua?"

"Like hell he'll ever do that!" Gon shouted.

The other Gon looked at him in anger and said, "I was talking to Killua."

He stretched his arm out and Gon suddenly went flying backwards. What was that? Was it some form of Nen? It wasn't Nen Gon would use. Gon always charges up his Nen before attacking. I ran over to Gon who was just getting up from the attack.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah," he said, "I'm fine."

"You bastard!" I turned to the other Gon, "What did you do?"

"It was one of the advantages of being a child of the forest, Killua," he explained, "I have a special kind of Nen that allows me to control every natural thing in the forest. My Nen is so special that it doesn't even fit in the six categories." He started walking towards us as he said, "I also have an endless supply of Nen that comes from the forest itself. I am the most perfect being on the face of the planet. Now, step aside, Killua. I'm going to do what you should have done last night."

I stepped in front of Gon, "What the fuck makes you think I'm gonna do that?"

The other Gon looked at me with the big, brown puppy dog eyes that I can't stand to see. I had to fight in order to keep my will. I realized that I might have to fight this Gon. If that was the case, then could I do it? Could I really attack the image of my best friend consciously?

"Killua, move." Gon said from behind me.

"Huh?" I looked back, thankful I wasn't looking into those eyes anymore.

"Move out of my way," Gon said, "I'm going to take care of this fucker myself."

I saw a hatred in Gon's eyes that I rarely ever saw. He was serious about wanting to do it himself. Normally, I would have argued and hit him on the head, but at the moment, I was too pissed at the other Gon. So I just stepped aside as Gon got to his feet. The other Gon laughed.

"You think you have any chance against me?" He said, "How pathetic."

I was about to rush in and start beating the living hell out of that kid. Whether he looked like Gon or not, it didn't matter. Nobody called Gon 'pathetic' while I was around. At least, nobody who ever spoke again. That made me even more pissed at him. However, Gon put his arm in front of me to stop me.

"Killua," Gon said, looking right in front of him at the other Gon, "I want you to stay out of this. This fight is between me and him. Hey, you!" He pointed at the other Gon, "Let's go fight in the clearing."

"Might I ask why you want to do that?" the other Gon responded.

Gon just smiled and said, "There's more room to beat your ass."

The other Gon looked at me, smiling, and said, "Ne, Killua, I'm gonna kill this one and the we can be together, kay?"

"Go to hell" was my response. Followed by, "Gon, kick his ass."

"With pleasure," Gon said, cracking his knuckles and his neck as they both walked into the clearing.

I climbed a tree as they went to the clearing, so I could get a better view, and as soon as they had both entered the clearing, the other Gon turned around and hit Gon with the back of his hand, causing him to fall to the ground. As he got up, he spat out some blood and wiped his face. He told the other Gon that it'd take more than that to hurt him. He then charged at the other Gon who ducked under his punch and tried to punch Gon in the stomach. However, Gon brought his other hand over to intercept the punch.

He flipped the other Gon over and the other Gon hit the ground hard. Gon then brought the arm he had a hold of around to the back of the one on the ground. I noticed a slight movement of the other Gon's free arm and was about to say something. However, I knew that if I helped Gon, he wouldn't forgive me. He'd wanted to take this other Gon on by himself and if I helped him then, even if he won, his pride would be forever hurt. I bit my lip, knowing that I could do nothing.

The other Gon moved his free hand out to the side and a bunch of leaves from the ground flew over to them and surrounded Gon. I couldn't tell what was happening to Gon because there were a lot of leaves, but I could tell that he let go of the other Gon, who got up knocking Gon to the ground. The leaves dispersed and the other Gon had his hands around Gon's neck, strangling him. I could tell Gon was trying hard to get the other Gon's hands off his neck, but wasn't doing much. Gon lifted his head and head butted the other Gon, who was forced to let go. Gon stood up, rubbing his neck.

"I don't buy your 'child of the forest' or 'Gon of Killua's desires' bullshit," Gon said, "To me, you're just an impostor who's trying to take Killua away from me. I can't let that happen. Jan…ken…"

The other Gon jumped to a distance and said, "I know your trick. You can't punch me from here."

Gon smiled that competitive smile and said, "I don't need to punch you."

He put his hand in front of him and a huge ball of Nen shot towards the other Gon. The other Gon was so shocked by Gon's Emission attack that he didn't register to dodge it. The Emitted Nen hit its target and sent the other Gon back into a tree. I knew that if the Other Gon could somehow heal his arms, then he could also survive an attack like that. It took the other Gon a few minutes, but he eventually got up and walked back to the clearing.

He ran at Gon and faked a punch, which Gon was about to block. With Gon unguarded, the other Gon kicked him in the stomach. Gon doubled over and the other Gon kicked him in the face and sent him flying a few feet away. As Gon was getting up, a tree root wrapped around his leg. I just about jumped out of the tree because Gon was struggling to get his leg free. However, I remembered that Gon had wanted to do this alone, so I stayed, gripping onto the tree.

As Gon was struggling, another root wrapped around his other leg. He tried to pull both legs free of the roots, but couldn't manage it. The other Gon walked towards him and I saw something in his hand. I couldn't make out what it was, but I saw it had a point. A sword, maybe? But, if so, where had it come from? The other Gon was in his underwear and that's hardly enough to hide a sword.

I saw Gon charging up his Nen. Was he going to punch the other Gon again? Was he going to Emit his Nen again? I didn't think those attacks would work, as the other Gon seemed to learn fast. However, as soon as I saw a shape forming from Gon's Nen, I remembered that he had one last attack. He Transmuted his Nen into a sword and cut the roots that held his feet captive.

The other Gon was surprised by Gon's latest ability, but blocked Gon's attack as he ran up to him with his Transmuted sword. My guess was the other Gon's sword was also made of Nen, because Gon's attack would cut a regular sword in half. That would also explain how he was able to hide a sword when he was just in his underwear. The two Gons duelled it out with their Nen-swords. I was afraid that Gon couldn't hold his out for long seeing as how Transumtation isn't close to Enhancement, at least that's how Wing explained it to us when he taught us the basics.

Gon most likely knew that he didn't have long because he was going all-out. He was slashing away like there was no tomorrow. However, the other Gon kept blocking his attacks with ease. Then, the moment I feared happened. Gon's Nen sword suddenly disappeared. Gon tried to get it back, with much protesting to it vanishing, but it didn't happen. And the other Gon, seeing the perfect opportunity, stabbed Gon right through the chest. Gon had lost.


	20. Escape

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A/N: I have to say, I think this chapter was the hardest one I've had to write. Finally, it's done. *collapses* Oh, and the chapter gets T+ in the second half. Even moreso than a couple chapters ago. That's part of the reason why it took so long: trying to figure out how to word it in a T-rated way.  
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Chapter 19: Escape

Gon had been stabbed through the chest. I couldn't believe it. Gon had just been stabbed! My instincts kicked in and I immediately jumped off the tree and ran towards Gon. As I got closer, I noticed that Gon was trying to pull the Nen blade out of him. However, I could tell that he wasn't succeeding, so I unconsciously put some of my Nen into my hand and put against the other Gon's face, pushing him away.

"Get the fuck away from him!" I said as my hand forced the other Gon back.

The Nen blade disappeared and Gon started to fall back. It took me a second to react, but I caught him before he hit the ground. While I may not have been as skilled as Leorio in fixing wounds, I couldn't help but examine his body. There was nothing where the Nen blade had penetrated. No hole, no blood, nothing.

"Ki-llu-a," Gon said weakly, "I'm so-"

"Sh!" I told him, "Don't talk. I need to get you out of this stupid forest."

He smiled at me and laughed weakly saying, "I don't think I'm gonna make it this time."

"Don't talk like that, you idiot!"

"Hey, Killua," Gon said, "You're crying."

"Of course I'm fucking crying! Earlier you said you were scared you were gonna lose me, well now I'm scared that I'm gonna lose you!"

"It's OK, Killua." He brought his hand up to my face to wipe away my tears.

"It's not fucking OK, you idiot!"

I grabbed his arm and put it around my shoulder. Then I did the same for the other arm. I stood up, lifting him in the process. I carried him like I had done before, when we were with Natsuki. He didn't have any complaints this time, though. I started to walk when the other Gon stood in my way.

"Move." I glared at him with cold eyes.

"No," he said, "I can't let you leave, Killua. You belong to me now."

"I belong to nobody, you fucking bastard! Now move out of my way!"

He stood his ground. I put my hand on his face again and he put his hands on my arm to try and pull it off. As I pushed him out of the way, I let some of my Nen slip in. I started running in a direction that I hoped led back to Hikaryo and the old man. As I ran, I focused my Nen to my feet, hoping it'd make me run faster.

I ran. I ran and I ran and I ran some more. I didn't stop running. I couldn't stop running until I was out of the forest. However, the forest seemed to go on forever. Could the other Gon have something to do with that? Was he manipulating the forest to his will just to keep me in it?

I didn't believe it. There was no way he could do that. But, the wind that blew Gon away. And the roots that had trapped Gon's legs. Hell, even the Nen sword looked like a piece of bark when I got up close. So, maybe it was possible that he could control the forest. If that was the case, then I knew we were officially screwed.

"Killua…" Gon said weakly.

"It's okay, Gon," I lied, "We're almost out of here."

I found new resolve to keep going. I couldn't just abandon all hope and let Gon die. It's not what he would do if I were in the same situation. I had to press on. I knew there had to be an exit to this stupid forest somewhere. There just had to be.

"Ki-llu-a~"

I told myself not to listen. I told myself that if I listened, he would find out where we were. He called my name again and I had to force myself not to listen. I tried to think of all the times I had with Gon on our adventure. However, the voice interrupted all of my thoughts by having the Gon in my thoughts call my name like him.

I saw light up ahead. I knew that had to be the end of the forest. I'd made it. I just had a few more feet to go and then I could get Hikaryo to heal Gon like he had me. I'd then have the old man to tell us a different way to get to our destination; a way that didn't involve going through the forest. I stepped into the light and then, blackness was the next thing that I saw.

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"Killua…" A voice. "Killua…" My name. "Killua…" I knew the voice.

I opened my eyes and I saw the worried face of my best friend. As soon as he saw my eyes open, he sighed in relief. His face lost all the worry and he smiled happily. I couldn't remember what had happened. All I remembered was running.

"G…Gon?" I asked, "What happened?"

"You hit your head on a tree branch when you were running," he explained, "It knocked you out cold. I was so worried."

"Really?" That didn't sound like me at all. But, if Gon said it happened, then it must be true. "Where are we right now?"

"Still in the forest," Gon said plainly, "I didn't want to try moving you until you woke up. Oh, Killua, I'm so happy you're alright!"

He pressed his lips hard against mine and I felt them move, as if trying to find the right position to be in. Once they stopped moving, I felt his tongue in my mouth. His tongue freely explored the whole mouth and when it got to my cheeks, he licked them furiously. His tongue travelled over my teeth to each cheek and then back to the center of my mouth, where he licked my tongue just as furious as he had my cheeks. Something was wrong.

Gon would never kiss like that. I tried to move my arms to push this person off of me, but I couldn't. I tried to move my legs so I could kick this not Gon where it counts to get him off, but my legs were stuck. I finally resorted to head butting him. His head flew back and his tongue left my mouth, but his body remained close to mine. Whoever this was, his head was just as hard as Gon's.

"Ne, Killua," the other Gon said, "Why did you do that? Did you not like my kissing?"

"Just shut the fuck up and tell me where Gon is!" I demanded.

"He is over there," he turned my head to where Gon was sitting against a tree, his arms, eyes and mouth were covered by something that looked like bark. He turned my head back to face him and continued, "Ne, Killua, when will you show me your Nen next?"

"The next time I show you my Nen will be when I fry your fucking brain with it!"

The other Gon looked at me, mock hurt, then he smiled and giggled, "I like you when you're angry."

He gave me another kiss and then he kissed my chin. His mouth surrounded my chin before he moved on to kiss my neck. His kisses trailed down my neck and onto my chest. It was the first time that I realized that I had been stripped naked again. As he was kissing my chest, I tried to concentrate my Nen to cover my body. However, I couldn't.

The other Gon must have known what I was trying to do because he stopped kissing me and crawled up my body. He giggled again and said, "My lips are covered with sap from a special tree in this forest, Killua. It stops whoever I kiss from moving for a few minutes. It also forces the one that I kiss into a state of permanent Zetsu. At least, until their lips touch something else. Which is why I have you tied to this tree," he turned my head to look at my arms and legs, which were tied by the same bark-like thing that held Gon, "so you can't wipe your lips clean from the sap."

He was about to crawl back down my body when I asked, "What about Gon?"

"Hm?"

"What the fuck did you do to Gon?"

"Oh, he's fine. You know, I was going to kill him. It would have been so easy, too. But then I thought of another plan. I'm keeping him alive so he can hear you moan. That's why my Nen blade didn't hurt him."

"'Hear me moan?'" I asked, "What he hell does that- Ah!"

He licked my chest. Then he kissed where he had just licked. He worked his way across my body like that. Lick then kiss, lick then kiss. Whenever he licked me, I let out one of those weird sounds. He made his way to my nipple and, instead of just sucking on it, he bit it. He actually chewing on my nipple! He pulled it with his teeth and another strange noise escaped my mouth then he went back to just sucking on it.

He then moved on to my other nipple, licking and kissing his way over, and did the same thing. As my mouth made every kind of weird noise imaginable- I think- the other Gon continued to do things to me with his mouth. When he got to my navel, his tongue circled it inside and out. He kissed it several times, too. He grabbed me down there and I let out the weirdest sound I had ever heard. It was so weird that I couldn't possibly know how to do it again. The other Gon stopped kissing my navel and crawled up my body while still holding on to me.

"Ne, Killua," he said, "Is this the first time you've ever been touched on your-"

I cut him off and said, "What the fuck are you doing? Let go of that, you sick fu-a-ah!"

He squeezed his hand and smiled at the noise that I made. He giggled. He continued to fondle my area as he licked and kissed my chest again. It felt like I cold move by myself again, so I looked over to where Gon was. I saw him struggling to get out of his bindings. I wasn't sure if it was because he was uncomfortable with the noises I was making, or if he was really pissed at the other Gon for making me make those noises. I felt the other Gon's hand move all around and his tongue and lips move lower on my body.

I felt the other Gon's tongue on my hips, moving closer and closer and extremely slow to his hand. When it reached his hand, he started on the other side, switching hands, and moved in closer and just as slow. He started licking my legs from the outside and moving in. More weird noises were escaping from my mouth. Finally, he stopped with everything and I sighed in relief.

"Ne, Killua," he said, "If that was your first time being touched, then is it also your first time…"

He trailed off. My eyes widened when I realized what he was about to do. I knew he was about to start on what had been denied from him last time. He grabbed me again and I felt his breath. I closed my eyes and, as his mouth closed around me, my mind went blank. I don't even remember if I let out one of those weird noises. I felt tears forming at the corners of my eyes.

_Kill, I am very disappointed in you._

A voice had spoken to me deep inside my mind. It was a voice I was all too familiar with. I had wondered where the voice was coming from, if he was actually here. If he was, then how had he found me? I opened my eyes a little and looked around. The only one I saw- or, chose to see, I should say- was Gon trying desperately to get loose. I closed my eyes again and realized that it was just my imagination; that my mind had automatically thought of what Illumi would say if he saw how easily I had been taken by the other Gon.

_You do not have to take this, Kill. Remember what I taught you._

"Ne, Killua," the other Gon said. I opened my eyes to look at him, "You can pretend that I am him, if it'll make you release faster."

"R-release?" I asked, "What the fuck does that mean?"

The other Gon giggled again and put his mouth around me again. His mouth went up and down along me slowly at first. Then, he picked up speed. As he got faster, the sounds escaping from my mouth got louder. I looked over at Gon and saw that he had cracked the bark around his torso. He was still a long way from breaking through it, though.

_Remember your training, Kill._

A sudden gust of wind rose up. I saw a flash of metal in the moonlight, but didn't know if it was real or not. My mind was taking in too many things at the moment, so it could have just been my imagination again. However, I saw the metal again. I knew it was real, then, but I still couldn't make out what it was.

_Remember._

My arms and legs were suddenly free. I pushed the other Gon off of me. He fell down on his ass. I saw his face. It was a mixture of surprise, and confidence.

"Ne, Killua," he said, "You don't plan to fight me, do you? It would be a losing battle for you. You can't use Nen, remember? But I can."

I saw his hand move and before he could lift a finger, My hand was underneath his chin. I said, "I don't need to use Nen in order to kill you."

He was shocked. That much I could tell. I had seen plenty of people with that same look on their face. It always brought me joy to see that face. It was the face I remember the most because that's the face they had when I killed them.

I smiled an evil smile and said, "I wonder how quickly forest children recover when they're decapitated? Or when their heart is ripped out?" I leaned in closer and whispered in his ear, "Shall we test it?"

"Ne," he said nervously, "Killuahck-"

I stepped on his foot, pushing it out to its limit and grabbed his neck, choking him, and said, "Don't you fucking _dare_ try saying my name in his voice. In fact, don't you fucking use his voice at all! If you so much as say one syllable in Gon's voice, I will rip out your fucking throat."

With each passing second, he was getting more scared of me. I liked it. It gave me power. I hadn't felt this way since before I met Gon. I began to wonder why I ever gave this feeling up. This feeling of power. This feeling of strength. I could almost taste it.

I could have ended everything at that moment by just squeezing my hand on the other Gon's throat. I felt like I could have done it easily. I mean, my hand was right there. All I needed to do was tighten my grip and he would die. However, something stopped me from doing that.

I let go of his neck and said, "Let me get dressed and then we'll fight."

The other Gon just nodded. He was still too shocked to say anything. I found my clothes and put them on. I told him to put something on as well. I would have been distracted if he had fought me as he was. His outfit was slightly similar to Gon's, though, so I wasn't sure if it was any better.

We walked to another clearing not far from the one we were at. I had requested the move to keep Gon out of danger. Well, that, and so I could kill this son of a bitch without feeling guilty about it. I knew that if I killed him in front of Gon, even if Gon couldn't see me do it, I'd have to tell him that I had killed. And considering the current mood I was in, it wasn't something I wanted to do.

I saw his Nen sword appear in his hand. My earlier suspicions about it were right. He charged at me and swung his sword, but I dodged it easily by jumping to the left. He swung his sword at me again but I jumped back. As he kept swinging his sword, I was just walking backwards and bending my body to dodge. His movements were predictable.

I backed up against a tree. His face showed confidence. He didn't think he had me cornered, did he? He swung his sword at me again and I jumped to grab onto a tree branch. In the misstep caused by missing me, I swung my body and kicked him in the face while jumping off the branch. I landed on my feet and looked back to where he was laying on the ground.

"Come on," I said, "This can't be the best you've got. I was expecting a challenge. I haven't even broken a sweat, yet."

He got up and rushed me again. I noticed his eyes were full of fear. That was why he was being sloppy in his movements. I laughed on the inside. It felt good to know that he was afraid of me. I kept dodging his attacks, waiting for the right moment to strike.

The moment came when he left himself unguarded as he brought his sword over his head. I took the opportunity and punched him in the chest. Then, as he bent over I gave a chop to his neck. He went down. I waited. I knew he'd get up shortly after going down.

I felt something wrap around my legs. I looked down and saw roots coming from the ground. This was one of the other Gon's Nen abilities. I remembered seeing him use it on Gon when they fought earlier. I remembered how Gon had dealt with them. I wasn't going to do the same. Instead I just stood there as they wrapped my legs.

The other Gon laughed and said, "Ne, Killua, I have you."

I said nothing and just stood still. He mocked me as he got up. He asked me why I didn't use Nen and then immediately said that I couldn't. I didn't really pay attention to what else he was saying, as I was just getting more pissed at him for still talking, though, I didn't show it.. If I could, I would have ripped his lips right off.

When he got to his feet, he charged me again. I just sighed and crouched as he swung his sword. He was obviously caught by surprise and I brought my hand up in a fist. I made contact with his chin and he was once again on his back. I then bent down and ripped the roots that held my legs.

"It's my turn, now," I said.

I started walking to the left. I used my Rhythm Echo technique to confuse the other Gon as he was getting up. I walked around him in a circle and I saw him looking for the real me. He charged at the me directly in front of him, but I was on the behind it. I stepped forward and took out his heart with my hand.

He was shocked. He pleaded with me to give it back. I tightened my grip. I wasn't in any mood to listen to him talk. He pleaded again and instantly, my grip tightened. I could tell he wasn't going to collapse. He pleaded one last time.

"Die."

I crushed his heart. He just stood there. I waited for a minute. He fell to his knees and finally, onto his face. I walked up to him and wiped my hand on his shirt. I then stood up and walked away, back to the clearing where Gon was.

When I got back, I saw Gon had made some progress on breaking through his bonds. The crack on the bark was bigger. I walked up and ripped the bark off of him, freeing his hands. He ripped the bark off of his mouth, gasping for air, and his eyes. He blinked and I smiled.

"K-Killua!" He said as he jumped and wrapped his arms around me.

"Whoa, hey," I said, "Take it easy, Gon."

"Killua, what happened? Where are we? What happened to him?"

I explained to Gon that after his fight with the other Gon, I had tried to escape, but was knocked out by something. I told him that the other Gon and I had discussed some things and he decided to leave us alone. Gon was a bit sceptical at first, but quickly accepted my lie. I told Gon that we needed to leave the forest, as well, so we walked back into the forest.

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A/N: As the official 20th chapter is next, I am once again reaching out to you, my readers, to ask me questions. Be it about my personal life, my online life, my stories, whatever. If there is a question burning that little brain of yours, feel free to leave a review and ask away. I'll be answering all of the questions I've received in an Author's Note at the beginning of the next chapter. It won't be for a little while yet, as I intend to take a short break before working on the next chapter. Also, for those of you who don't know, I have a facebook now! "authorjaynavi" after the facebook in the adress bar. If you want updates of my stories, then that is the place to go. One more thing: I have a new story up. It's a Hunter X Hunter crossover with Pokémon, called "Pokémon: Hunter Version". I'm not going to say everything about it, as I have already done that in the summary of the story. I will say, however, that it will be a KilluGon story (just not the kind this is). Go check those out and be sure to leave me questions!  
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	21. The Other Side

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A/N: Welcome everyone to the 20th Chapter special for the new version of my first-ever story! Last chapter, I reached out to you, my readers, for questions to answer in this. I got a great response. And I will be answering them all. But first, I'd just like to say thank you. Thanks to everybody who has stuck by me throughout this story. And to those of you that have just started, thanks for showing your support by following. Anyway, enough of the sentimentalities, let's get on with the questions!

Cormano and Muu-chan asked pretty much the same thing, but I'll spearate them and answer them as one. Anyway, Cormano: "who is the seme and who is the uke?" and Muu-chan: "is Killua uke?" Technically, there is not seme or uke. In my mind, those don't exist for Gon and Killua because either one could fit the role. I prefer if they were equal.

Fanaea: "Do you write the plot out to the whole story first or do you make it up as you go?" I don't normally write down the plot, but I do think of certain plot points. However, most of the time, those plot points get strangled by new ideas. Well, not strangled, just pushed out of the way, I guess. Next question: "how did you think of this story? Any inspirations?" This is probably gonna sound really cheesy, but most of my inspiration comes from dreams. For my original story, I had a dream where Gon and Killua climbed up Gon's fishing rod to escape from some people (I can't remember if that's what started it but it ended up in there). Then, when I had fallen out of writing because of my computer troubles, the reviews I got on "The Fountain" gave me the motivation to get back to it. Then, I had a dream that would be a good start to this story. And here we are.

Butterfree and Phoenix Thunder: "Why did Gon feel weak if the other Gon said his Nen blade didn't hurt him?" The Nen blade didn't hurt him _physically_, which is why there wasn't any blood coming from Gon when the Nen blade disappeared. However, HE WAS FREAKING STABBED IN THE CHEST! It's the sensation of being stabbed that had made him feel so weak. I mean, how would you feel if you were stabbed in the chest? I doubt you'd feel right as rain even without the physical damage.

.Pearl: "Did. The. Famous. Gon. Freccess. The. Innoccent. Gon. Freccess. Just. Swear?!" Haha! Gon isn't as innocent as you might think. I know I thought the same thing (or close to the same thing) when I first got into the fandom, but I have learned. I have learned so many things. But, yes. He did swear. Satisfied? I thought so.

Yes, I cheated a bit with a couple questions, because they weren't asked in the last chapter, but I considered any question asked in the last ten chapters fair game. I'll be doing the same for the next ten chapters, too. So, keep supporting me because it really helps. Thanks again, guys, and enjoy Chapter 20.  
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Chapter 20: The Other Side

It seemed that finding our way around the forest was much easier now. I wasn't sure if it was because I had killed the other Gon or not, but I suspected it had something to do with him. We travelled in the forest for a few hours in silence. Gon had said nothing and I didn't feel like sparking up any conversations. I knew that any attempts to do so would end up with the same results.

"Killua," Gon finally said, "What did he do to you?"

"What?" I asked.

"What did that bastard do to you in that clearing?"

"He didn't do anything, Gon," I lied, "We just had a talk, that's all."

"Don't lie to me, Killua!"

I stopped, turned around, and shot at him, "I'm not lying!"

"Yes, you are!" He shot back, "I heard sounds back there. Sounds that I don't normally hear. I heard your voice. So, tell me, what did he do to you?"

I was silent for a minute. I said, "You must be hearing things, Gon, because I told you that he didn't do anything." I walked away.

"Killua!" He grabbed my arm.

I let some of my Nen flow into my arm, shocking Gon's hand as I pulled it away. I backed up in a defensive stance. I stayed like that for a few seconds before I stood up straight. Gon was holding his hand from the shock. I worried that I had let too much Nen in and walked over to Gon with my hand out.

"Let me see your hand," I said.

"It's fine," Gon said.

"You may say it's fine," I said, "but I need to check it anyway. Now show me your damn hand."

"I said it's fine!" Gon yelled.

I grabbed his hand and he winced and pulled it back. I said, "See? It's not fine! Now let me see it!"

"I told you that my hand is fine!"

"Why won't you let me see your hand?" I asked.

"Why won't you tell me what happened?" He responded.

We stared at each other for a while. Neither one of us was willing to do what the other wanted so we just stared. If anybody was looking, then from their perspective, it might have looked like we were having a staring contest. However, we both knew that this was more than just a contest to see who could blink first. It was about pride.

Finally, I got fed up and said, "Fine! Be that way! See if I care!"

I turned around and stormed off into the woods. I didn't care if Gon followed me or not. He could go off in a completely opposite direction and get lost for all I cared. I knew he could take care of himself; he didn't need me around. I found a tree and sat beside it.

"Stupid Gon," I muttered, "I don't need to tell him anything."

"You're right," Gon's voice said, "I'm sorry for being pushy."

I looked up to see Gon standing right beside me. He was leaning up against the tree. His hand was badly wrapped in bandages. When he saw that I had noticed, he just smiled and laughed. I raised my eyebrow and he explained.

"It started to bleed a little bit when you left," he said, "I tried to wrap it, but I could only do so much with one hand. So could you…"

He trailed off, holding his hand out. I sighed and said, "Come here."

I pulled his arm and he sat down beside me. I unwrapped the poor job that he did. I was surprised by how much blood there was. Gon had said it was only a little, but it didn't look that way. I covered his hand back up with the bandages and looked up at him.

"This is a little?" I asked.

"Um…" Gon said, "I may have cut off the circulation with my Nen when it happened. So, once the circulation was back, it started to gush. I'm sorry."

I hit him on the head and said, "Idiot. Hand me a water bottle."

Gon started reaching for his backpack, which was still on his back. I told him to look in mine, since it was on the ground. When he handed me the bottle, I opened it, uncovered his hand and poured a bit to wash it off. I then told Gon to hand me some fresh bandages. He did and I began to wrap his hand the proper way.

As I was wrapping I said, "Geez. You should have told me it was bleeding. I wouldn't have walked off and your hand would be getting better by now."

"Sorry," he said. He was silent a moment and then said, "Did it feel good?"

"What?" I looked up at him.

"What the other me did to you," he explained, "Did it feel good? Is that why you don't want to tell me?"

I looked down and focused on wrapping his hand. I must have done a wrap too tight because he said 'ow'. I apologized without meaning it. I had to think of something to say that would satisfy Gon or else he'd just keep bugging me about what happened. But what do I tell him?

Do I tell him the truth? Do I tell him that it actually _did_ feel good when the other Gon had his mouth around me? Or do I tell him the opposite? Maybe I should tell him what I told him before. Or make up a completely different story.

"Killua?" Gon's voice broke through my thoughts. "It's okay if you don't want to tell me. If you want, I can just drop the subject and we can talk about something you want to talk about."

I finished wrapping his hand and decided on what I'd tell him. "Yes." I whispered.

"Eh?"

"Yes, alright?" I said louder, "Okay? Are you happy? Yes it felt good. There. I said it." I sat back against the tree.

Before I knew it, Gon had his head pressed against mine. He was staring right into my eyes. At first, it was a little uncomfortable but I noticed they were filled with concern and curiosity. Was this his way of knowing I was telling the truth? I saw his eyes look down.

"Killua," he said, "You have something on your lips. Let me get it off for you."

He was about to put his lips to mine and I was about to do the same. However, something the other Gon had said to me suddenly came back to my mind. He had said that the sap from his lips put somebody into a state of permanent Zetsu until it was wiped off. I realized that I hadn't wiped my lips since I broke free of my restraints. I couldn't let Gon kiss me with the sap still on my lips.

"No! Don't kiss me!" I pushed Gon away.

"Waa!" He said as he fell back, "What the hell was that for, Killua? Why can't I kiss you?"

I did my best to explain to Gon, without going into much detail, what was on my lips. He asked how I was able to use Nen to hurt his hand if I was in permanent Zetsu. I didn't have an answer. I thought about it. Maybe the sap had a time limit or maybe it stopped working since I had killed the other Gon. Or maybe it was something else.

"Gon," I said, wiping my bottom lip with my thumb, "let me put this on your lip."

"What?" He asked shocked, "But you just said… Why?"

"I want to experiment," I said.

"Oh, fine," he said reluctantly.

I wiped my thumb on his bottom lip, which transferred a little bit of the sap I had taken from my lip. I wiped the rest of the sap on the grass. I then told him to use the Nen punch he always does. While I couldn't see him gathering his Nen in his hand, I knew he was trying to do it. When he punched the air, I felt a little difference in the pressure as if a sudden burst of strong wind had picked up and died at the same time.

"I could still use my Nen," he said, "But it wasn't as much as I normally do, even though I tried to get it all."

"Maybe the sap is losing its power," I thought out loud, "But that doesn't explain how I hurt your hand. I mean, that small amount of Nen wouldn't be enough to hurt you. Hmmm…" I wiped his lip from the sap and wiped it on the grass. "Next experiment: grab my shirt."

"Huh?"

"Just grab my shirt!"

He reached out with his good hand and grabbed my shirt. He immediately let go as sparks flew. He accused me of using my Nen, but I assured him that I hadn't. It was the truth. Gon asked how my shirt had sparked if I didn't use Nen.

"I'm not sure," I said, "but I think my shirt absorbed some of my Nen."

"Eh?" Gon asked, "How'd it do that?"

"Hell if I know," I said, leaning back onto the tree and wiping the rest of the sap off of my lips, "Maybe once we're out of this damn forest, we could call Wing or Bisky and have them explain it."

I looked up and noticed that the sun was rising. It seemed like that night would never end. I was sort of glad that the sun was rising because it meant more light. More light meant we could see better and find our way out of this cursed place. My view was interrupted by Gon's eyes, his forehead pressed against mine once again.

"Killua," he said.

"Hm?"

"We're never gonna call them, are we?"

I smiled a bit and said, "No, probably not."

"So," he said, changing the subject, "if I kiss you now, I won't be put in a state of permanent Zetsu, will I?"

"Let's find out," I answered.

As soon as the words were out of my mouth, Gon's lips pressed against mine. I felt a new sensation with this kiss that hadn't been there previous times I've kissed Gon. I can't really explain it, but I think it was a sense of longing or something. All I knew was that it had felt like an eternity since I'd kissed the real Gon and it felt wonderful.

I wasn't sure how or when, but sometime during the kiss, my body had turned. My back was against the air and Gon was leaning into me. His arms were around my back, which made me feel more comfortable. Suddenly, I felt his arms move away and his lips release mine. I fell back and hit my head on the ground.

"Killua!" Gon said, pointing, "Look!"

"What is it?" I asked getting up off the ground.

I was annoyed at what could be so important that Gon had to break our kiss. I turned my body to see what Gon was pointing at. My mood instantly got better when I saw what I had wanted to see all night. There was light coming from the far end of the stretch of trees. It was the end of this God-forsaken forest.

I stood and pulled Gon up because he was still kneeling and pointing. I grabbed my bag and we ran to the end of the forest. I counted the steps I took to get to the end. I slowed down right before I stepped out of the forest. With Gon right beside me, I stepped out into the light and put my hand over my eyes to shield them.

When my eyes had adjusted to the sunlight, I noticed we were on a hill overlooking a town. It looked pretty big, so I knew there had to be a hotel in it. I told Gon that I would race him down the hill and took off before he could say anything. I heard him call after me, saying I was a cheater. I didn't care.

"Killua!" Gon called, "Wait u-woah!"

Curiosity took over me when Gon had yelled. I looked back to see that Gon was now rolling down the hill. I wondered how he had started his roll; did he trip? What did he trip on? Maybe there were some rocks sticking out of the ground. I looked around me but didn't see anything. I then looked up and saw that Gon was closer.

I didn't have any time to react before I, too, went tumbling down the hill. I knew when I had started to roll with Gon that I had only made it half-way down the hill. That meant that I'd be rolling the other half. I wasn't sure which way was faster, but the rolling seemed a lot more fun. Of course, I'd never tell Gon that.

We reached the bottom of the hill. I was looking straight into Gon's eyes. I noticed how they seemed to be laughing. I guess Gon found it fun, too. We stayed how we were for a few minutes.

"Killua," Gon said.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"Could you get off me, please?"

"Huh?!"

I shot up to my knees. I hadn't noticed how I was positioned. Gon slid out from under my knees and sat up. He laughed. I hit him on the head and called him an idiot. He whined when I hit him.

"Let's go find a hotel," I said.

We stood up and we walked into town. We were greeted by a lady holding a flag. She was dressed in a weird outfit that I couldn't even begin to describe. She told us that the town was named Bashra Town. The guy who founded the town, Kitohana Bashura, had built it for travellers to rest on their journeys. She said some other things about the guy, but I didn't really care. When she was done, she asked if we had any questions.

"Yeah," I said, "Where's the hotel in here?"

"Well," she said, "I could tell you, but you'd have to take a tour first."

"No thanks," I said, walking past her, "Come on, Gon, let's go find it on our own."

"Okay," Gon said, following me in stride.

"Hold up!" The tour lady said, while stepping in front of us, "I have to insist that you take the tour. There are some flesh-eating monsters that live in areas of town. They would gobble up kids like you in no time at all!"

I was getting a little annoyed at this lady. I said, "Look, lady-"

"Oh, right," she said, cutting me off, "I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Cocochi Mitsuka, but most people just call me Coco."

"Okay," I said, more annoyed, "Well, flesh-eating monsters or not, I think we can handle ourselves. Right, Gon?"

"Yeah." Gon agreed.

"So, if you don't mind," I said, "could you just tell us where there's a hotel?"

She stared me down. I stared back. I thought about transforming my hand into a claw to intimidate her, but then I thought Gon wouldn't like that. I thought about showing her my Nen so she would understand we didn't need to avoid any areas. However, I ended up just staring back at her.

"Alright," she said after a few seconds of staring, "I'll take you to the hotel by the tour."

I was going to protest, but Gon said, "Thanks, Miss Coco. We appreciate it."

"It's just Coco," she said.

I shot Gon a glare. He just smiled. The tour lady told us to follow her and we started walking. While we were walking, she pointed out some buildings that were apparently historical and told us a bit about them. They weren't really interesting facts, so I tuned her out.

The tour took an hour. I was about ready to fall asleep while walking. However, we finally reached the hotel. After telling us some boring facts about the hotel, like when it opened and who the first guest was, she ended the tour.

She asked if we had any questions. We didn't so she walked away. I figured she was going to harass somebody else and force them on a tour. I kind of felt sorry for whoever that was, but I didn't think on it long. Gon and I walked into the hotel. It was big, but not quite as big as the last hotel we were at.

We walked up to the front desk and Gon showed his Hunter's License. We got a suite on the fourth floor. We thanked the person at the front desk and took the elevator up to our room. The room was huge. Just about everything you could imagine was in it. I claimed my side of the bed by jumping on it and almost immediately falling asleep. I felt Gon lay down beside me and we both slept for the first time in what seemed like forever.


	22. Through Town

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A/N: OH. MY. GOODNESS! FINALLY! Gosh! I am so sorry for the wait on this chapter! AH! Man, progress has been REALLY slow since the v-day fic. But, at long last, I finished the chapter. What does this mean for the rest of my stories? Well, I'm still gonna try and do this and the crossover with Pokémon (the "Hunter Version") as I have been doing them. How long will it take? Hopefully not as long as this. But, nevertheless, I want to sincerely thank all of you for your patience. And enjoy the chapter.  
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Chapter 21: Through Town

Sometime during the night, I was woken up by a knock on the door. At first, I tried to ignore it, but whoever was knocking wouldn't stop. I got out of bed, pissed off, and went to the door. When I opened it, I was about to yell at whoever it was, but when the figure behind the door was in my sight, I stepped back. The person that stepped into the room had long black hair and a cold expressionless stare.

"Hello, Kill," my big brother said.

"I-Illumi," I responded, "W-what-? W-why-? H-how-?" I couldn't find words to say.

Illumi grabbed me by the neck and lifted me up to meet his eyes. He said, "I'm disappointed in you, Kill."

I couldn't breathe. Illumi lifted me up even further. I looked up and saw that the ceiling fan was spinning at high speed. Illumi was lifting me towards the fan. Was he planning on killing me?

He threw me up towards the fan. I closed my eyes, waiting for the inevitable split second of pain. It never happened. Instead, I fell back down and Illumi caught me again. This time under my chin.

"Your recent actions," Illumi's voice seemed older than usual, "have brought shame and disgrace on the Zoldyck name, little brother. You deserve to die."

I was frozen with fear. Illumi raised his hand so it was level with my face. His hand turned into a claw before my eyes. He really _was_ going to kill me! His hand reached back before shooting forward.

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I sat straight up, almost going over the foot of the bed with my sudden start. It took me about a minute to realize where I was and who I was with. I looked around the room, noticing that it was dark but I could see everything clearly. The fan on the ceiling was going at a normal speed and not the killer death speed I had seen. Gon was lying peacefully next to me, murmuring in his sleep about wanting to put his tongue in my mouth.

I realized that it had just been a dream. Illumi wasn't actually in the room and he wasn't going to kill me. But then, I began to wonder. Illumi's voice in the forest and the dream. What did it all mean?

Was it all just in my head? Was Illumi actually sending his thoughts to me through some kind of Nen? Was it how I thought of myself? I didn't know the answer to these questions. I needed to clear my head.

I decided having a shower was the best way to do that. I got out of bed, making sure I didn't disturb Gon, and found my way to the bathroom. After closing the door so I wouldn't wake up Gon, I ran the water for my shower and got in. I let the water roll down my body and, after what I had gone through, it felt great. But I still had some thoughts going through my mind.

I couldn't help but think that maybe a part of me actually did want to be involved with Gon in that way; beyond just kissing. It was that thought that led to Illumi's voice saying I was a disgrace to the family name. I quickly put that thought aside. I didn't give a damn about the family name. If I did, I wouldn't have left in the first place. But why did it weigh so heavily on me, then?

"It's so stupid!" I hit my head against the wall of the shower to get rid of the thoughts. "Why is it like this? Can't I just be with Gon without being haunted by my past?" I hit my hand next to my head. "I just want to be rid of my past." I closed my eyes.

_You will never be rid of me, Kill._

"Huh? Who's there?" I lifted my head from the wall and opened the shower curtain to find Gon stripping naked. "Gon?"

"Ah! Killua!" He said, shocked, "I was going to surprise you."

"I thought you were sleeping," I said.

"I was," he confirmed, "but then I felt something leave me. I woke up and saw you weren't there. Then I saw the light on in the bathroom and I heard the water running. So, I thought I'd surprise you."

"Oh," I said, "Uh, did you hear anything?"

Gon looked at me blankly and said, "No, why? Did you say something?"

"No, no," I said quickly, "It's just the water must be playing tricks on my hearing. Anyway, there's really no need for you to get in; I'm done now."

"Eh?" Gon said, "How do you know I wasn't planning on getting in to have a shower like you?"

I turned the water off and got out, grabbing a towel off the rack. I said, "Because you came in here to 'surprise me'. If you were going to have a shower, you would have waited until I was done."

Gon didn't say anything, but put his clothes back on. I put my clothes on as well and we both went back to the bed. Once we were under the covers, Gon asked if I was alright. I thought it was a weird question to ask, but I told him that I was. He turned his body over mine and looked me in the eyes. I was a bit surprised because I hadn't expected him to do that.

"Are you sure," Gon said, "you're alright?"

"I'm fine," I said.

Gon didn't say anything, instead he just looked into my eyes. I tried not to stare too long into his eyes because I knew guilt would soon overcome me if I did. But, there was just something about those big, brown eyes of his that had me moving back to them every time I looked away. It didn't help that they were filled with concern. Genuine concern for me. I don't know if I'll ever get used to that.

I pushed him back to the side of me, saying, "Seriously, I'm fine. Now go back to sleep."

Gon got out of bed and turned the lights on in the room. I asked him what he was doing because neither of us could sleep with the lights on. He said he wouldn't turn the lights off until I told him what was wrong. I insisted that nothing was wrong and told him to turn the lights off. When he refused, I got out of bed and turned them off, only for him to turn them back on.

"What the hell, Gon?" I said.

"You're hiding something from me, Killua," he shot back, "and I don't like it!"

"I'm hiding something-?" I repeated, "What the hell makes you think that?"

"I see it in your eyes," he said, "And you're always avoiding my question. If- If you don't want to be with me anymore… I can understand that."

I hit him on the head and said, "Who else am I gonna be with, if it isn't you, you idiot?"

His solemn mood didn't change when he said, "I don't know… Maybe that other me?"

"Eh?" I sad, confused.

"Well, he does things to you that I don't," he reasoned, "And… And they make you feel good."

I hit him on the head again and said, "Like hell I want to be with that bastard! Sure, it felt good, but it was just plain weird. And he tricked me. Now, stop saying stupid things, turn the lights off and let's get some sleep."

I turned around and walked toward the bed as Gon said, "Okay," rather reluctantly. He turned the lights off as I was getting into bed. I breathed a small sigh of relief, thankful that it was so easy to win Gon over. A few seconds later, I felt Gon get into bed and snuggle up close to me. He wrapped his arms around mine and put his head on my shoulder.

"Killua," he said, "Tell me that you love me and I won't bother you for the rest of the night."

I sighed. "Idiot," I murmured.

"Hm?" Gon asked.

"I said, 'I love you, Gon'. Happy?"

He kissed me on my cheek and said, "I love you, too Killua. And I couldn't be happier."

He laid his head back down and instantly fell back asleep. As much as I wanted to fall asleep, I had to stay awake and think. I thought of what Gon had just said and I had to come to the same conclusion. I couldn't be any happier as long as I was with him. As my eyes closed, I wished that we could stay like this forever.

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When we left the hotel in the morning, we found the tour lady from yesterday standing in front of the stairs. I told Gon not to say anything because I didn't want to be dragged on another boring tour. At first it seemed like we'd just sneak right past her, but she noticed us and stopped us. Grabbing us by our shirts, she almost choked us. She insisted we take another tour to get to where we were going.

"Look, lady-" I began.

"Coco." She insisted.

"Whatever," I shrugged her off and continued, "We got enough of the tour yesterday. I'm pretty sure we can find our way around town."

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no," she said wagging her finger in front of my face (which, honestly, made me want to bite it off), "You don't understand. These tours aren't just to show people around town. They tell the history of this iconic city and the blood, sweat, tears, and passion put into making it! It's so marvellous what a single tour can accomplish!"

"What makes you think we give a damn about the history of this stupid place?" I argued, "We'll be gone by tomorrow and we'll never be back!" I grabbed Gon's arm and started walking away saying, "Come on, Gon. Let's go."

We walked down the street away from the tour lady. I'm not really sure why I was so mad at her. Maybe it was because she was treating me like a kid (I _hated_ to be treated like a kid) or because she thought a couple kids couldn't be left on their own. Seriously, a whole bunch of adults walked by her before we were stopped and she never insisted _they_ take a tour. Whatever it was, it pissed me off.

I felt a pain on the back of my head and said, "Ow!" I turned to face Gon and yelled, "That hurt, you idiot!"

"Good!" Gon shot back.

"Why the hell did you do that?"

"Because you were so mean to Coco!"

"Eh?"

"All she wanted to do was help us out and you were so rude to her!"

"Yeah?" I countered, "So what? We don't need her, anyway. We went all over town with her yesterday and I didn't even get to kiss you once until we got to the hotel!"

I closed my mouth as soon as I said that. I had tried not to admit the real reason I didn't want the tour lady around. At one point during that boring tour, Gon had wanted to kiss me but as soon as our lips touched, she pulled us apart. I was so pissed at her that I actually wanted to kill her. The way she had treated me earlier reminded me of that.

Gon looked at me with eyes that suggested he was scheming, which is hard to believe. "So, that's it," he said.

"W-what?" I said, acting as if I hadn't said anything.

"That's why you didn't want Coco around," he said leaning in to me, "Because you just want to kiss me."

He put his lips to mine before I could say anything else. I tried to bring up my hands to push him away, because it was embarrassing in public, but he held my arms at my side. I felt his tongue enter my mouth and he started to wrestle with my tongue. It was a few minutes before I felt his grip loosen and I was able to break his hold. I pushed him away and hit him on the head.

"Idiot!" I yelled, "It's embarrassing when you do it in public!"

Gon just had a victorious smile on his face. I could never bring myself to tell him, but I always liked that smile. Even when it was used after a scene like that and I was pissed at him for doing it, I just couldn't stay mad when he used that smile. I didn't know if it was because I secretly liked what he did or if it was his innocence in doing it. Unlike recent events…

"You're impossible," I said, trying to get my mind off the last couple days, "Now, let's just go get supplies."

"Um, Killua," Gon said, "Remind me again why we need supplies."

"Weren't you listening in the hotel?"

"Um…" The way he trailed off told me he was only paying attention to the movement of my lips at that time.

I was tempted to hit him on the head again, but I didn't. Instead, I sighed and said, "Look, we're going to a place that's relatively unknown, right?" Gon nodded and I continued, "Therefore, we don't know what's going to be there, right?" Again, Gon nodded, "So, we should get supplies here so we can be prepared for what's there. Make sense?" With one final nod of Gon's head, I said, "Good. Now let's go."

We walked through town, looking for a market area like what we had seen in Yorknew during the auction last year. We saw a lot of buildings with signs over the doors, but we didn't see any outside vendors. I decided to go into one of the buildings, telling Gon to wait outside and that I wouldn't be long. Inside, I saw all kinds of weapons. I counted about 20 different kinds of pistols, 10 different kinds of rifles, about 40 swords, 100 different knives and various other weapons that I did and didn't recognize from my training as an assassin.

"Hey, kid!" A large man behind the counter yelled, "Get out of here! I don't do business with kids."

"I'm a professional Hunter," I explained, pulling out my Hunter's license and showing it to the man.

"I don't care if you're the Chairman of the Hunter's Association," the man said, "My policy is 'I don't do business with kids'. Now get out of my store."

"I just want-" I began.

"Out!" The man yelled.

I turned around and left the store in a bad mood. Something about the people in this town gets me so pissed at them. I didn't know what it was, either. Gon asked me what I learned from inside, to which I told him nothing. He was slightly confused by this and volunteered to go inside, instead.

"Gon," I tried to reason with him, "if I didn't get anything, what makes you think you will? Let's just try another building."

He reluctantly agreed and we walked down to another building with a sign over it. I volunteered to go in, but Gon said he wanted to. He told me to just wait outside but when I told him I'd go in, he insisted that he go in alone. I agreed and leaned up against the building. I wondered why Gon had been acting like that.

I looked around my surroundings. There were people walking on the street going from one place to another. Most of them were going into buildings. I was beginning to wonder if all this town had was buildings when I saw one up on a hill. It looked different from the rest of the buildings and I didn't notice it on the tour.

It was a ways away so I had to lean forward and squint my eyes to get a good look at it. It looked kind of like a castle. Why would there be a castle in a town for travellers? I didn't have long to think about it, because I heard a loud bang come from inside the building behind me. I didn't care that Gon had wanted me to stay outside.

I rushed in, yelling "Gon!"

I looked around, but I didn't notice anything out of place. There were shelves lined with food and other stuff that I couldn't make out at first that were standing just fine. When I looked over to the counter, however, I saw Gon with his fist in the air. I ran over to get a better look. I saw him holding a man by his shirt over a broken counter.

"First come rock…" Gon said, "Jan…Ken…"

"Gon, stop!" I yelled, grabbing his arm, "Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Back off, Killua," Gon snapped, "this is none of your business!"

"None of my business?" I questioned, "Like hell it's none of my business! As your bo-" a mid sentence thought changed my words, "A-as your best friend, I'm making it my business to stop you from doing something stupid! Now, come on!"

I grabbed Gon's other hand to make him let go of the man. I dragged him out of the store by his wrists, despite his protests. Once we were outside, I let go of him and he stood up. I immediately hit him on the head afterwards. However, this time it actually hurt my hand.

Choosing to ignore the pain, I yelled at Gon, "Just what the hell happened in there?"

"Eh?" Gon blinked, "In where?"

"Don't play dumb with me," I said, "What happened in the store?"

"I…" Gon looked down, "I don't know." He paused for a moment and continued, "It was like… Like I saw what was happening and I knew it wasn't good, but I couldn't control my body."

I would have passed Gon's story off as bullshit if it weren't for two reasons. The first reason was that Gon's voice sounded sincere and I knew him well enough to know that when he sounds sincere, he is. The second reason was the more puzzling one. When I had hit him, I felt a small prick that hurt my hand. I could only imagine that prick was the result of something being planted on him to control him.

"Gon," I said in a softer tone, "When I went into that first building, did something happen?"

"Eh?" Gon asked, slightly confused.

"I mean," I explained, "Did somebody touch you or anything?"

"Um…" Gon thought, "Now that you mention it, an old lady did come up to me. She asked me for directions, but I told her I wasn't from around here."

"Then what happened?" I asked.

"She patted me on the head and said I was nice." Gon paused and continued, "You don't think that old lady was the one controlling my body, do you?"

"No," I said, "I think she might have been a helper. She might have planted something on you. But what could be small enough that it could be put on somebody unseen?"

I noticed a small gleam on the ground from the corner of my eye. I looked to where I saw it, bent down and picked it up. It was a small needle-shaped object. I wondered what it was doing on the ground, but thought that it might have been the thing that was planted on Gon. Though, this raised new questions in my mind.

If this needle was the thing that controlled Gon's actions, then who did it belong to? Who on Earth would want to control Gon? Did they know about his Nen? Was it somebody we knew before or somebody we've never met that was controlling him? Maybe they wanted me, but I was inside so Gon was the next choice?

"Killua," Gon said tapping my shoulder.

"Yeah?" I said, looking up.

Gon pointed to a person walking down the street, coming towards us. It was a man in his early twenties with long, black hair. I only had to look at the expressionless face to know that it was my brother. I grabbed Gon, who was getting ready to fight, by the arm and dragged him into an alley between two buildings. I hoped that my brother didn't see us.


End file.
